Democrats on the House Oversight Committee sent a letter to Reince Priebus, White House chief of staff, on Wednesday, asking to see records on President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, his security clearance, and the classified information he is able to see.
The letter questions why Kushner, who while applying for his security clearance reportedly did not disclose meetings he had with the Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, and the CEO of a Russian state-owned bank, "continues to have access to classified information, while these allegations are being investigated." The 18 Democrats are also seeking similar records on former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who resigned in February after misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of his conversations with Kislyak.
The Trump administration has ignored 260 letters from House Democrats, NPR reports, and has asked the Justice Department to come up with a legal opinion that says only committee chairs have the authority to ask executive branch agencies for information on what they are doing. This doesn't thrill Republicans, with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) telling NPR the policy runs counter to "everything that every eighth grade student has studied about checks and balances of government."