For a couple of years now there have been reports that the people getting high-level security clearances in our government, under Trump, were dubious to say the least. This week has seen huge revelations from veteran White House Security Adviser Tricia Newbold that the Trump administration didn’t simply give security clearances to seemingly anybody Trump liked, they overruled internal security clearance denials to allow at least 25 individuals “despite concerns about their ties to foreign influence, conflicts of interests, questionable or criminal conduct, financial problems or drug abuse.” Since then, the eternally disappointing Republican Party has attempted to defend this clear national security issue by saying only five of these people had really “serious” issues denying them HIGH LEVEL SECURITY CLEARANCES IN THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT!!!!
Today, Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) tried to put in to perspective why this is such a serious and pressing issue. Speaking at the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez had a hard time staying calm as she parsed through these insane revelations.
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez: Folks are suggesting that we are conducting foreign relations with folks with security clearances via WhatsApp? I mean every day that we go on, without getting to the bottom of this matter is the day that we are putting hundreds, possibly thousands of Americans at risk. I mean really, what is next, putting nuclear codes in Instagram DMs? This is ridiculous!
It would be laugh out loud funny if it wasn’t so goddamn serious.
You can watch the rest here.