A White House staffer who has accused her superior of granting “unwarranted security clearances” has requested whistleblower protections, NBC News reports.
Tricia Newbold, a White House security specialist, claims in a whistleblower complaint that she approached her boss, Carl Kline, to express her concerns about an unnamed person, which NBC’s sources claim is White House adviser Jared Kushner, getting a security clearance in July 2017.
Newbold claims that Kline "repeatedly mishandled security files and has approved unwarranted security clearances,” and that she warned Kline about “potential derogatory information” on the person that could have had a negative impact on their gaining a security clearance.
She filed the complaint shortly after she was suspended without pay for failure to follow instructions set by Kline. Newbold, who has a rare type of dwarfism, first filed a discrimination complaint against Kline three months ago. Security office chief Crede Bailey, who proposed the suspension, denied that it was retaliation for her complaint, though Newbold’s attorney disagrees.
"It's clearly reprisal for her whistleblowing," said her lawyer, Ed Passman. "[It] has no basis in merit whatsoever."
"I confidently feel that this is completely unwarranted and I am also confident that I have done nothing wrong, every decision I and my team have made have always been in the best interest of the United States," Newbold told NBC. "There is no compromise of personal identifiable information or sensitive information."
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