In February, Republican Congressman Trey Gowdy confirmed that the House Oversight Committee, which he chairs, was investigating the White House’s handling of the Rob Porter situation. According to a new report, the White House is not cooperating with the Oversight Committee’s investigation.
According to CNN, White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short sent a letter to Gowdy and Elijah Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the committee, saying the White House would not comply with the committee’s request for information regarding Porter’s continued employment after the FBI alerted senior staff to the credible allegations of domestic abuse made by Porter’s ex-wives.
“Consistent with your letters’ requests, we would be pleased to update you and others on the progress of the working group at the appropriate time,” Short writes to Gowdy at the end of the letter after detailing what the White House is doing differently now on security clearance procedures, a courteous way of ignoring Gowdy’s specific requests on what the White House’s procedures were at the time and who knew what when about Porter. (x)
Since Porter’s firing, the White House has stripped interim security clearances from a number of people, including Jared Kushner, and fired or reassigned some staff as a result.
It’s unclear how Gowdy will react to the White House’s response. If he so chooses, he can subpoena the requested information.
(Via Talking Points Memo, CNN)