White House Counsel Pat Cipollone penned a letter explaining the decision Wednesday to House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., who is leading a probe into potential misconduct concerning security clearances for White House officials. "However, to be clear, no employee of the Executive Branch is or has been authorized to disclose to the Committee information about individual security clearance files or background investigations." Cipollone further said the materials from individual security clearance files consist of information gathered by the FBI. The committee subpoenaed Kline earlier this month, but the White House blocked Kline from complying. I understand that the White House ordered you not to appear, but that is not a valid legal reason to defy a congressional subpoena.

Source: Fox News May 01, 2019 12:28 UTC