Following revelations that President Trump discussed North Korea’s
ballistic missile test over dinner with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe and other guests at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, the House
Oversight Committee has launched an investigation into the alleged
security breaches.
In a letter to the chief of staff, Reince Priebus, the committee
chairman, Jason Chaffetz, has asked the President’s team to provide
proof of his security protocols at his estate and how they were
maintained.
The President was also asked in the letter to explain why he
reviewed White House documents at the dinner table in a “public space”,
whether those documents were classified and if those he shared them
with had been vetted. The committee asked that this evidence should be
provided in electronic format on the 28th of February.
It was also revealed in the letter that during the dinner at which the
documents were reviewed, President Trump made phone calls to staff in
Washington DC, suggesting that White House staff used their personal
phones to provide illumination for reviewing documents.
To compound issues, one of the guests, Richard DeAgazio, went on to post
on his Facebook page a compromising image of a man in Trump’s
entourage, claiming that the man is responsible for carrying the nuclear
football. The nuclear football is the briefcase which allows the
President to authorize a nuclear strike and should never leave his side.
This photo caused an uproar on social media.
White House Press Secretary, Sean Spicer, revealed to journalists that
no classified information was present during the Mar-a-Lago dinner, and
that President Trump had been briefed separately before and after
dinner, away from his guests.
Chaffetzwho, who is now leading the investigation of President Trump,
had earlier refused to investigate Trump’s apparent conflicts of
interest between his White House duties and his real estate and business
empire. This led to him being booed at a town hall meeting last week
with the audience chanting and telling Chaffetzwho to “do your job.”
L
