White House whistleblower says senior Trump officials overturned 25 security clearance denials

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A whistle-blower told a House committee in a private interview last month that senior Trump administration officials granted security clearances for nearly two dozen individuals whose applications were denied by the White House's Personnel Security Office.

Tricia Newbold, the whistle-blower, and a manager in the Personnel Security Office, told the House Oversight and Reform Committee that 25 individuals, including two current senior White House officials, and contractors and employees working for Donald Trump, were granted security clearances questionably.

Ms Newbold told the committee that some of the reasons security clearance applications were denied include “foreign influence, conflicts of interest, concerning personal conduct, financial problems, drug use, and criminal conduct.” the memo said.

She said that more senior officials overturned the denied clearance applications despite protocols designed to mitigate security risks.

The revelation came from a memo released by the House Committee's Democratic staff on Monday.

The memo did not identify the 25 individuals Ms Newbold revealed to have been granted security clearance despite being denied.

The revelation comes over a month after the New York Times reported that Mr Trump ordered then-chief-of-staff John Kelly to grant Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, security clearance last year.

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