Top Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform are calling on the White House to explain a rejected security clearance application for a National Security Council staffer who worked for former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
On Tuesday, the committee’s ranking member, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, demanded that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly explain why one of Mr. Flynn’s closest NSC deputies, senior director for Africa Robin Townley, was informed that the CIA rejected his request for the elite Sensitive Compartmented Information clearance required to work at the National Security Council.
“For more than a year, I have repeatedly raised concerns about the security clearance process at the White House, but you have declined to respond to any of my previous requests,” Mr. Cummings wrote in a letter Tuesday to Mr. Kelly. “In this case, a number of critical questions are raised by the denial of Mr. Townley’s SCI application.”
According to a recent Politico report, Mr. Townley was informed on Feb. 10, 2017, that the CIA had rejected his request for a Sensitive Compartmented Information clearance and that “the rejection was approved by Mike Pompeo, President Donald Trump’s CIA director, and that it infuriated Flynn and his allies.”
Three days later, Mr. Flynn was ousted from his position following reports he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other officials about his dealings with Russians during the presidential transition in late 2016 and early 2017.
Mr. Cummings’ request comes a day before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence holds a hearing on the deeply contentious issue of security clearance reform. The federal government has been attempting to overhaul the process of background checks since it was revealed that the last firm in charge, USIS, had failed to complete 665,000 investigations.
Clearances at the White House have also made major headlines in recent days. Last week, Jared Kushner, President Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, had his clearance downgraded and no longer has access to the nation’s most precious information. Former Trump aide Rob Porter was also in the spotlight for working in the White House with only an interim clearance after two ex-wives said he had physically abused them.
The letter from Mr. Cummings, dated March 6, specially seeks information as to why Mr. Townley’s application was denied, “particularly since he is a former Marine intelligence officer who reportedly held a Top Secret security clearance.”
Mr. Cummings also wants to know if the denial had to do with Mr. Townley’s relationship with Mr. Flynn, who has since pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian officials and is now reportedly cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of suspected Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
• Dan Boylan can be reached at dboylan@washingtontimes.com.
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