It is important to know what the conditions were to allow the FBI to be overruled on several White House security clearances, and Tricia Newbold, the whistleblower who called attention to the matter is a "courageous young woman," Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., said Wednesday.
"The protection of national security is not a Democratic issue or a Republican issue," Rep. Speier, who serves on the House Oversight Committee, told CNN's "New Day." "I am always concerned. It's important that we stand up to do the right thing, no matter what."
Newbold, a manager in the White House Personnel Security Office, told Oversight Committee members in a letter that 25 people, including senior advisers to President Donald Trump, had been issued clearances after they were initially rejected. The names of those involved have not been released.
"We want to know what the FBI originally thought and then why they were overruled and on what conditions they were overruled," said Speier, noting Trump, as president, has the power to overrule clearance refusals, although that is rarely done.
"It's a national security risk if a number of people are made to be given these clearances and then for any number of reasons may be subjected to bribery or any number of things from foreign governments," Speier said. "You know, one of the complaints was, well, even a janitor was going to be denied his clearance. Well, oftentimes it is those kinds of situations where people don't have a lot of resources where dangling $100,000 in front of them can turn any number of assets."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.