April 1, 2019
MEMORANDUM
TO:

Members of the Committee on Oversight and Reform

FROM:

Republican Committee Staff

SUBJECT:

Democrats’ White House Security Clearance Transcribed Interview

On Saturday, March 23, 2019, at 8:30 a.m., Committee Democrats conducted a closeddoor transcribed interview of a witness, Tricia Newbold, as part of Chairman Cummings’s
unilateral and partisan investigation into White House security clearances. Ms. Newbold selfidentifies as a whistleblower with relevant knowledge about the security clearance processes
within the White House. The transcribed interview lasted nine hours, ending at 5:48 p.m.
Earlier today, Chairman Cummings issued a press release and a memorandum using
cherry-picked excerpts from Ms. Newbold’s transcribed interview to release highly personal
information to continue his partisan investigation of the White House.1 Chairman Cummings
released closed-door testimony—without consulting Republicans Members—to build a case for a
deposition subpoena to Carl Kline, a former White House employee who formerly supervised
Ms. Newbold. The Committee is scheduled to consider Chairman Cummings’s request for a
deposition subpoena at a business meeting tomorrow.
Chairman Cummings solicited this material from Ms. Newbold despite Ms. Newbold’s
stated reservations about discussing highly personal information about White House officials.
We did not intend to release any material from the interview; however, Chairman Cummings’s
reckless decision to release cherry-picked excerpts forces us to provide this supplemental
information.
This memorandum seeks to clarify the record about Ms. Newbold’s interview. Before
turning to the substance of the transcribed interview, it is important to note that the Democrat
staff only notified Republican staff about the specific topic and witness for the interview at 3:30

1

Letter from Elijah E. Cummings, Chairman, H. Comm. on Oversight & Reform, to Pat Cipollone, Counsel to the
President (Apr. 1, 2019); Memorandum from Democratic Staff to Members of the H. Comm. on Oversight &
Reform, Summary of Interview with White House Whistleblower on Security Clearances (Apr. 1, 2019).

 Memorandum to Members of the Committee on Oversight and Reform
April 1, 2019
Page 2
p.m. on Friday, March 22.2 The Democrats’ late notice did not provide Republican staff with
much time to prepare for the interview. We do not know how far in advance the Democrats had
scheduled the interview with Ms. Newbold. The late notice also prevented Republican Members
from participating in the transcribed interview.
Ms. Newbold’s Background
Ms. Newbold is an employee of the Office of Chief Security Office (OCSO) within the
Executive Office of the President (EOP), which is responsible for processing of security
clearances for White House and EOP employees. Ms. Newbold has been employed by OSCO
for 18 years, and is currently an Adjudication Manager, Supervisory Personnel Security
Specialist within OCSO’s Adjudications Branch. Ms. Newbold testified that she chose to come
forward due to her concern for how OCSO handles security clearance adjudications for White
House and EOP employees.
As an adjudication manager, Ms. Newbold is responsible for conducting a second-level
evaluation of background information for applicants and making a recommendation on whether
the applicant should be deemed eligible to receive a security clearance. All employees on the
White House campus must be deemed suitable for a security clearance whether they need one for
their assigned duties or not. Some of the applicants Ms. Newbold testified about did not advance
to a clearance because their job duties did not require it. In reviewing an application, an
adjudicator evaluates an applicant under the “whole person concept,” meaning they review the
concerns and mitigating factors in totality before making a recommendation. Her
recommendation is subject to review by the Director of Personnel Security and Chief Security
Officer (her supervisors) and potentially the Office of White House Counsel. As Ms. Newbold
acknowledged in the transcribed interview, the President retains ultimate authority to grant
access to national security information to anyone he chooses.
Ms. Newbold’s Testimony
On a macro level, Ms. Newbold provided testimony that the Democrats are misusing to
manufacture a misleading narrative that the Trump White House is reckless with our national
security. As Chairman Cummings’s actions this morning show, the Democrats are inclined to
use some information from the transcribed interview to embarrass senior White House officials.
Ms. Newbold’s testimony discussed two officials with specificity, who the Democrats labeled as
“Senior White House Official 1” and “Senior White House Official 2.”
In reality, however, Ms. Newbold provided little direct knowledge about the reasons for
why Senior White House Official 1’s and Senior White House Official 2’s security clearances

2

The Democrats had previously alerted Republican staff on the afternoon of Thursday, March 21, that an interview
would occur on Saturday; however, they did not share any details at that time.

 Memorandum to Members of the Committee on Oversight and Reform
April 1, 2019
Page 3
were granted over her recommendations. Her testimony focused on a series of personnel and
workplace complaints that suggest she is unhappy and dissatisfied in her office.
While the Democrats may try to cherry-pick her testimony in furtherance of the
Chairman’s singular desire for headlines (as evidenced by his press release today), Ms. Newbold
acknowledged that her supervisor (a non-political federal employee who has since been
transferred out of the White House, and who made the decision to approve Senior White House
Official 1’s and Senior White House Official 2’s applications) treated Senior White House
Official 1 and Senior White House Official 2 the same as a General Services Administration
custodian. Ms. Newbold also acknowledged that the President has ultimate authority over
security clearances and the Trump White House has made improvements to the security
clearance process.
Below are key aspects of Ms. Newbold’s testimony.
1. Ms. Newbold had limited firsthand knowledge on particular security applicants and,
instead, focused her testimony primarily on problems with her supervisor.
•

Ms. Newbold had limited direct knowledge about OSCO’s decision-making process
with respect to particular security clearance applicants for whom she did not perform
the adjudication. Even for the applicants whom she did adjudicate, she could not
provide direct firsthand knowledge of the process after her adjudication review and
determination.
o Ms. Newbold discussed other concerns, including OSCO staffing levels and
her belief that OSCO needed to hire more experienced staff.

•

Ms. Newbold generally focused her testimony on her concerns about Carl Kline, who
served as OSCO’s Director of Personnel Security (and Ms. Newbold’s manager) until
June 2018. Kline left the White House in January 2019.
o Ms. Newbold’s primary concern with Kline was that he disagreed with her
adjudication determinations in 25 cases, granting favorable adjudications
when Ms. Newbold had recommended unfavorable outcomes.
o Ms. Newbold also lodged complaints about the office’s environment—
ranging from how office files are stored, to the manner in which employees
were required to scan documents into emails, to the physical position of a
Kline’s computer monitor on the desk inside of his office.

•

Ms. Newbold testified that OSCO has been plagued by poor management during the
majority of her 18-year tenure as an employee. She acknowledged, however, that the
Trump Administration has implemented improvements to the office.

 Memorandum to Members of the Committee on Oversight and Reform
April 1, 2019
Page 4
2. Ms. Newbold testified that Kline overruled her recommendation with respect to Senior
White House Official 1, but she has no direct knowledge as to why.
•

Ms. Newbold performed a second-level adjudication review on Senior White House
Official 1’s application for a security clearance.

•

Ms. Newbold stated that Kline overruled her unfavorable adjudication of Senior
White House Official 1’s application. Ms. Newbold recalls “briefly” looking at
Kline’s adjudication file and seeing that Kline favorably adjudicated Senior White
House Official 1’s file as the issues raised during the process occurred prior to Senior
White House Official 1’s federal employment.

•

Ms. Newbold testified that Senior White House Official 1’s application triggered
certain concerns including foreign influence and outside activities.

•

However (without going into specifics in the interview about each activity), Ms.
Newbold testified that she successfully mitigated aspects of Senior White House
Official 1’s file.
o According to the adjudicative guidelines, problematic outside activity could
be mitigated if it does not pose a conflict with an individual’s security duties
or U.S. national security interests, or if an individual discontinued the activity
following being apprised it may be a conflict.

•

Problematic foreign influence can be mitigated if there is no conflict of interest, or if
the contact or communication with a foreign citizen is infrequent, or if an individual
has promptly complied with a requirement to cease the contact.
o Ms. Newbold noted that some people who are new to the government do not
even know what foreign contacts mean or how to disclose those contacts
accurately.

•

Ms. Newbold said she had no knowledge whether Senior White House Official 1
asked for any special consideration during the security clearance process. She did not
communicate with the Office of White House Counsel or anyone about why Kline
favorably adjudicated Senior White House Official 1’s adjudication. She testified that
the decision to overrule her “appeared to be at Mr. Kline’s discretion….”

3. Ms. Newbold said she did not “work” on Senior White House Official 2’s application,
but she would recommend against a clearance.
•

Ms. Newbold testified she “did not work on [Senior White House Official 2’s] case
specifically.” However, she said that Senior White House Official 2’s file had been
adjudicated unfavorably at the first-level review. As the next level review, Ms.
Newbold told Kline that she intended to adjudicate Senior White House Official 2’s

 Memorandum to Members of the Committee on Oversight and Reform
April 1, 2019
Page 5
file unfavorably. Ms. Newbold alleges then that Kline told her not to work on Senior
White House Official 2’s file.
•

Ms. Newbold did not know why Kline told her not to work on Senior White House
Official 2’s file or the reason(s) why Senior White House Official 2’s application was
ultimately approved.

4. Ms. Newbold testified that Kline directed her to change her determination for a third
White House Official, but that official never obtained a final security clearance.
•

Ms. Newbold testified she rendered an unfavorable adjudication determination for the
employee whom the Democrats labeled “Senior White House Official 3.” Ms.
Newbold alleged Kline directed her to change her recommendation for Senior White
House Official 3’s file.
o While Senior White House Official 3 may have had interim top secret during
their employment at the White House, Senior White House Official 3 was
never granted a final clearance.
Ms. Newbold was also unaware of what information Senior White House
Official 3 had access to while they had an interim clearance. She testified “I'm
unable to speak to what they did and did not have access to. Our office
doesn’t get involved in that type of information. We just determine should
they have access or not.”

5. Ms. Newbold testified that Kline overruled her on 25 applications—from senior White
House officials to nonpolitical employees.
•

One of Ms. Newbold’s primary complaints was that Kline overturned her
adjudication determinations fairly regularly. She believed Kline’s decisions did not
comport with the adjudicative guidelines. Since the start of the Trump
Administration, Ms. Newbold said that she had compiled a list of 25 EOP employees
for whom Kline had overruled her unfavorable recommendation.
o The EOP—which includes OMB, ONDCP, and USTR—covers about 5,000
employees, including volunteers, interns, career staffers, detailees, contracts,
and consultants.
o To be an EOP employee, everyone must be consistently deemed “suitable” for
a security clearance—whether or not the employee ultimately requires a
clearance for his or her job duties.

•

Ms. Newbold testified that only 4-5 of her unfavorable 25 adjudications were for
“very serious reasons.”

 Memorandum to Members of the Committee on Oversight and Reform
April 1, 2019
Page 6
o If Kline overturned only—at most—five clearance adjudications with very
serious concerns out of five thousand, Ms. Newbold’s concerns seem
overblown.
o In total, Ms. Newbold identified seven types of problematic activity in these
25 applications: drug use, criminal conduct, foreign influence, foreign
preference, outside activities, personal conduct, financial consideration.
•

Of the 25 EOP employees, Ms. Newbold testified that only three individuals were
senior-level employees who worked at the White House (including Senior White
House Official 1 and Senior White House Official 2). The other 22 individuals were
employed in various roles across the EOP.

•

We asked Ms. Newbold for details about these 25 EOP employees. Ms. Newbold
had trouble recalling specific details for the majority of the other employees but was
able to testify with specificity regarding Senior White House Official 1, Senior
White House Official 2, one other employee of the White House Office, and a
custodian.

•

Ms. Newbold did not know how many of the 25 employees had left the EOP,
obtained access to national security information, or received a clearance.

6. Ms. Newbold has filed EEOC and OSC complaints about her work environment at the
White House, suggesting she is unhappy with her office.
•

Ms. Newbold has filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC) and with the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) relating to her
employment with OCSO. Her EEO complaint related to Kline’s management of
OCSO and his actions towards her disability, which affects her access to certain items
and objects.
o In January 2019, Ms. Newbold was suspended from work for two weeks
without pay for failure to follow the office’s policies. Ms. Newbold alleges
that the suspension was in retaliation for her EEO filing, as the “information
that the investigator found in that EEO investigation was in [her] favor.”
o Ms. Newbold had earlier filed a complaint in 2008 related to maternity leave
and a promotion.

•

We take Ms. Newbold’s allegations at face value, but did not have an opportunity to
conduct any due diligence on her claims due to the very short notice of the interview
provided by the Democrats.

 Memorandum to Members of the Committee on Oversight and Reform
April 1, 2019
Page 7

7. Ms. Newbold has registered several complaints about Kline, her office, and other White
House officials.
•

Ms. Newbold articulated numerous issues she had with Kline, her former supervisor.
o She said that Kline’s “national security adjudications were not always
adjudicated in the best interest of national security.”
o Ms. Newbold said that Kline was a supervisor who made her “feel
uncomfortable,” was concerned about how he managed the security clearance
process, and he did not like to be challenged.
o Ms. Newbold complained that Kline would act in “bizarre ways,” explaining
“he would place chairs in front of his door and instruct us not to go in. And
most recently in the SCIF, he placed Scotch tape across his door to
determine — up high to see if anyone was going in.”
o Ms. Newbold also complained about the location of Kline’s computer in his
office and Kline’s practice of changing his clothes in his office behind frosted
glass and a closed office door. She also complained that Kline asked her to
transmit personally identifiable information in advance of a meeting at the
Defense Department.

•

Ms. Newbold noted other workplace concerns that are not unique across the federal
workforce.
o Ms. Newbold discussed her displeasure that her job responsibilities had changed.
o Ms. Newbold felt that OSCO needed to obtain more employees with relevant
experience, and she expressed a preference for hiring individuals through the
“excepted service route.”
o Ms. Newbold cited an interest in attending security-related trainings such as a
special security officers’ course.

•

In response to a Republican staff question about any “other” concerns, Democratic
staff prompted Ms. Newbold to mention “policy changes and whistleblower
retaliation.”

•

Ms. Newbold testified about problems she had with other White House officials,
including the Deputy Director of the EOP’s Office of Administration, and with
Kline’s immediate supervisor, the Chief of the Office of Security and Emergency
Preparedness.

 Memorandum to Members of the Committee on Oversight and Reform
April 1, 2019
Page 8
•

Although Ms. Newbold testified that she found her current supervisor respectful, she
later suggested that she is still not satisfied with how the OCSO currently operates.
o She took issue with her current supervisor’s role in her suspension and the
lack of qualified adjudication staff in the office.
o Due to a proposed office reorganization, Ms. Newbold’s current supervisor
removed her from adjudications. Democrat staff prompted Ms. Newbold to
suggest that the change in her job duties was the result of her raising concerns
about the process.

•

Ms. Newbold testified she raised her complaints to the White House Counsel’s office
on several occasions outside of the normal process. Her communications with the
Counsel’s office were frequent enough, she said, she was subsequently asked not to
communicate directly with the office. She testified that she was told to follow the
“proper chain” before speaking with attorneys in the Office of White House Counsel.

•

We must carefully weigh Ms. Newbold’s testimony against the backdrop of her
various complaints directed at her supervisors and colleagues.

8. Ms. Newbold acknowledged that the President has ultimate control over security
clearances, and that the Trump Administration is improving the process.
•

Ms. Newbold noted “the President absolutely has the right to grant anyone access to
classified information.” Recognizing this, she said that her concerns were about the
security clearances process “prior to reaching White House counsel or the President.”

•

Ms. Newbold’s testimony demonstrates that challenges within the EOP security
clearance office are not unique to the Trump Administration. For example, she
counted 15 bosses during her tenure over multiple Administrations.

•

Ms. Newbold pointed to two examples when the Obama White House granted
security clearance eligibility to individuals with questionable backgrounds:
o First, an OMB employee who was using cocaine frequently. Ms. Newbold
said that the suitability manager did not promptly address the issue when the
employee self-reported their drug use. Ultimately, the individual and
suitability manager were removed, along with Ms. Newbold’s immediate
supervisor at the time.
o Second, an Obama White House employee expressed an unwillingness to
renounce his foreign citizenship with the United Kingdom. Although the
employee did not receive a clearance, he was still eligible for a clearance.

 Memorandum to Members of the Committee on Oversight and Reform
April 1, 2019
Page 9
•

Ms. Newbold conceded that the Trump Administration has improved some aspects of
the security clearance processes.
o Ms. Newbold spoke favorably of the removal of Kline, and favorably about
her current supervisor and chain of command.
o Ms. Newbold generally approved of the new OSCO policies that codified and
clarified the security clearance process. She noted a few concerns: a
reciprocity policy for accepting clearances for cleared employed from outside
agencies, the removal of credit checks, a change to the SCI briefing process,
and a policy for scanning PDF documents to the CIA.
o Ms. Newbold appreciated that her office had been moved into a SCIF.

•

Ms. Newbold spoke favorably about Chief of Staff John Kelly’s memo, issued in
February 2018, that reformed the security clearance process. She stated, “I do believe
that we were getting out of control with the interim clearances, and Mr. Kelly acted
accordingly, and that was an improvement.”
o The memo ended the practice of granting new interim clearances barring
extraordinary circumstances and required the Chief of Staff to approve all new
security clearance requests. It also renewed training and best practices for
handling classified information.

•

Ms. Newbold also acknowledged that the White House Counsel’s office has
improved the security clearance process at the front end by adding more lawyers to
evaluate and conduct suitability checks.

If you have any questions about this transcribed interview, or Chairman Cummings’s
unilateral and partisan investigation into White House security clearances, please contact
Republican Committee staff at (202) 225-5074.
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