Top House Democrat demands FBI background checks for Trump nominees
Rep. Jamie Raskin sent a letter to Donald Trump’s transition team on Friday, seeking “clear assurance that the Trump-Vance Transition will require that all nominees receive a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) background check before they are considered by the Senate.”
The letter comes a little more than a week after the Trump transition team finally signed an agreement with the Department of Justice allowing the team to “submit names for background checks and security clearances.” Trump’s team has dragged its feet signing what are normally standard transition documents, including an ethics agreement Trump himself signed into law.
“I request that the Trump-Vance Transition commit immediately to requiring all nominees to undergo FBI background checks before they are considered by the Senate,” Raskin reiterated, adding that the nominees must also ”submit to vetting before they are afforded any access to classified information.”
In his current capacity as the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, the Maryland Democrat notes that “reports indicate that some nominees may be refusing to undergo FBI background checks before the Trump Administration takes office,” referencing reports that Trump’s crew might look to a third-party private group for background checks as a way around the FBI.
Raskin, who will be the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee in January, also asks about the influence of Boris Epshteyn and his role on the transition team, asking for any relevant documents pertaining to Trump top legal adviser, in the wake of reports that Epshteyn has taken money in exchange for promoting people for positions in the upcoming administration.
“This is precisely the type of permissive environment in which individuals with undisclosed and unvetted security vulnerabilities can engage in nefarious conduct that could risk American security,” Raskin’s letter adds.
Recently Sens. Richard Durbin of Illinois and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island have asked for the nominees who will appear in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to retain any correspondence they have had with Epshteyn.