WASHINGTON – Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson and Ranking Member Claire McCaskill are calling for answers on the security clearance process for National Security Agency contractor Reality Winner, who is accused of leaking classified information about attempted Russian hacking of U.S. voting software.
“The leaking of classified information jeopardizes our national security,” McCaskill said. “We need to determine if Ms. Winner’s security clearance process was handled correctly or if we missed any red flags.”
“Ms. Winner allegedly chose to put Americans and our national security at risk when she leaked classified materials. It is my hope that OPM will do a thorough review of her security clearance, and determine if it was granted appropriately,” said Chairman Johnson.
In a letter to Kathleen McGettigan, the Acting Director of the Office of Personnel Management, McCaskill and Johnson ask for details on “the federal government’s process for the monitoring and reinvestigation of persons with security clearances.” Their letter requests information including when Winner was last reinvestigated, which is required for those who hold an active security clearance, and the status of the current backlog of security clearance investigations. It also asks for more information on how a security clearance continues when an individual moves from the military to the private sector, a transition Winner made.
Read the Senators’ letter to McGettigan HERE.
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