Two Senators have asked the Office of Personnel Management to provide details into the security clearance process for NSA contractor Reality Winner who was accused of leaking a top secret report to the media.
Senators Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) sent a letter to acting OPM director Kathleen McGettigan asking for information about how security clearances are used for employment in the intelligence community.
Specifically, some of the questions the Senators asked were which agency conducted the initial clearance, by whom it was conducted, what levels of clearance Winner had been granted, and which agencies were responsible for Winner’s security clearance adjudications during her active clearance.
“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 Johnson.
A copy of the letter is included below.
2017-06-15 Letter Re: Reality Winner Security Clearance
