Following questions as to whether or not the Trump administration followed proper procedure in issuing a number of security clearances, the new House Oversight Committee is officially launching a probe.
The committee, led by Representative Elijah Cummings (D-MD), hopes "to determine why the White House and transition team appear to have disregarded established procedures for safeguarding classified information" according to a letter addressed to the White House NPR obtained Wednesday.
The Trump administration has suffered a number of leaks, and many of its top officials were or are involved in international business. The investigation will look into how these officials were vetted, and whether all rules were followed in the issuance of clearances.
The committee reportedly plans to target specific members of Trump's team, both current and previous. According to CNN, individuals who will be under the microscope include current national security adviser John Bolton, current senior adviser to the president and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, former White House aide Rob Porter and former national security adviser K.T. McFarland.
Of the aforementioned names, John Bolton is reportedly of particular interest to the oversight committee. NPR notes members of the committee are concerned about Bolton's previous partnerships with a gun rights lobby in Russia.
Cummings promised this is just the first of many new investigations. The committee added four new Democrats following the swearing of the 116th Congress. Politico reports the new faces on the panel include Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA).
Some of the other questions the House Oversight Committee plans to address include the mystery of Trump's missing tax returns and the personal email use of White House employees, according to a November report from Axios.
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