RANKING MEMBER JIM JORDAN’S STATEMENT ON CHAIRMAN CUMMINGS’S RECKLESS USE OF WHISTLEBLOWER INFORMATION

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, released the following statement on Chairman Cummings’s :

“Historically, investigations and oversight related to the security clearance process have been conducted in a bipartisan fashion. This was the case when we looked at these issues in the wake of Edward Snowden’s leak and how the shooter at Navy Yard obtained a clearance. It is extremely unfortunate and disappointing that Chairman Cummings is now using this sensitive topic as a pretense for a partisan attack on the White House. Chairman Cummings’ investigation is not about restoring integrity to the security clearance process, it is an excuse to go fishing through the personal files of dedicated public servants. The process by which this matter has so far progressed has been anything but fair. The interview of Ms. Newbold was conducted on a Saturday morning at 8:30am and Republicans on the Committee were not informed of the interview’s topic or witness until 3:30 the day before, leaving little to no time to prepare. Furthermore, the memo mischaracterizes the information shared by Ms. Newbold. For instance, the twenty-five examples of overruled recommendations by Ms. Newbold heralded by the Democrats include non-political officials such as a GSA custodian.

Chairman Cummings has departed from longstanding bipartisan oversight of the security clearance process to advance his partisan efforts to attack the President. His unilateral decision to release cherry-picked excerpts from one witness so early into an investigation is far from the constructive oversight he promised.”