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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/white-house-tells-witness-not-comply-subpoena

WH Tells Witness To Ignore Cummings Subpoena In Security Clearance Probe

A former White House official who allegedly retaliated against a whistleblower is refusing to appear before the House Oversight Committee, citing an order from the White House not to comply with a congressional subpoena.

“With two masters from two equal branches of government, we will follow the instructions of the one that employs him,” reads an April 22 letter to Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) from an attorney for former White House personnel security director Carl Kline.

Kline attorney Robert Driscoll cites a letter he received from White House deputy counsel Michael Purpura.

The letter states that the White House demands that a representative from the Office of Counsel to the President attend the meeting. The Committee is purportedly forbidding any representative from the White House to attend.

“Because this proposed action by the Committee unconstitutionally encroaches on fundamental Executive Branch interests, on April 18, 2019, the White House informed the Committee that Mr. Kline would be instructed not to appear on April 23, 2019 unless the Committee will allow a representative of the Office of Counsel to the President to attend,” the letter reads.

Purpura adds in the letter that the Justice Department “is aware of and concurs with” the position that Kline can only appear if a White House attorney is present.

In the letter to Cummings, Driscoll wrote that “this decision is not made lightly and does not come from any ill will or deliberate defiance on my part or that of my client.”

Kline is accused of retaliating against an employee who raised concerns that the White House was issuing to security clearances for reasons of nepotism and was overturning security clearance rejections made by career-level staff.

The whistleblower, Tricia Newbold, has dwarfism. Kline allegedly placed files out of her reach as a form of retaliation.

Presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner is reportedly among those whose clearances were overturned by Kline, a political appointee.
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IP360 said:
Never understood the logic.

He(and Boehner) is the reason why Pres. Obama wasn't able to get a lot of his agenda thru while in office.

Along wit the presidential election, retake the Senate...get his azzz out. That too should be top priority
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It’s not just that. He has also promised to be the reason that nothing good that progressive candidates are proposing will ever come to pass.

  • Environment - Green New Deal
  • Healthcare for All
  • College Education Reform
  • Minimum Wage Increase
  • Paid Child Leave
  • Paid Child Care

His reason ... they are “socialist policies” AKA policies that don’t benefit his millionaire donors.
 
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I mean id prefer younger blood as president but im thinking based off of who will be able to pull those old ass middle of the road cacs or the ones that are leaning republican, swing states, and unfortunately it wont be a woman or a person of color, a gay dude, or bernie who alotta dems dont even fuck with anymore, biden the best chance to realistctly beat trump
 
StringerBell said:
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/white-house-tells-witness-not-comply-subpoena
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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/cummings-contempt-carl-kline

Cummings Threatens To Hold Security Clearance Probe Witness In Contempt


The House Oversight Committee is threatening to hold a former White House official in contempt for ignoring a subpoena issued as part of their probe into abuses of the security clearance process.

Committee chair Elijah Cummings (D-MD) issued a statement Tuesday urging former White House personnel security director Carl Kline to testify instead of following the White House’s order not to do so.

“The White House and Mr. Kline now stand in open defiance of a duly authorized congressional subpoena with no assertion of any privilege of any kind by President Trump,” Cummings said. “Based on these actions, it appears that the President believes that the Constitution does not apply to his White House, that he may order officials at will to violate their legal obligations, and that he may obstruct attempts by Congress to conduct oversight.”


“I intend to consult with House Counsel and Committee Members about scheduling a vote on contempt,” he added. “I hope that Mr. Kline, in close consultation with his personal attorney, will carefully review his legal obligations, reconsider his refusal to appear, and begin cooperating with the Committee’s investigation.”

An attorney representing Kline told the committee on Monday that Kline would follow an order from the White House to ignore the subpoena. The White House demanded that Kline only be deposed by the committee if accompanied by a representative from the Office of Counsel to the President. After the committee rejected that demand, the White House told Kline to ignore the subpoena.

“The Committee has repeatedly deposed officials across the government — including from the White House — represented by their own counsel and excluding representatives of the agency under investigation,”Cummings said in his Tuesday statement. “The White House now seeks to stonewall this otherwise routine congressional process. There are obvious reasons we need to conduct our investigations of agency malfeasance without representatives of the office under investigation.”

Kline is accused of retaliating against a whistleblower who raised concerns that 25 people who were denied security clearances by career officials were then granted the clearances by political appointees. Kline allegedly placed files out of the reach of whistleblower Tricia Newbold, who has dwarfism, after she voiced her concerns.
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