Insecure: A White House security adviser told lawmakers that the Trump administration has reversed 25 denials of security clearances that had been issued for “disqualifying reasons.” According to a publicly-released memo, Tricia Newbold said she considered Congress her “last hope” for addressing what she considers improper conduct and a danger to national security.

  Among the people whose security clearance is being scrutinized are being scrutinized by the House Oversight Committee are the President’s daughter Ivanka Trump, her husband Jared Kushner, and national security adviser John Bolton. 

  Newbold told the House Oversight and Reform Committee that her office issued “dozens” of denials for security clearance that were later approved in spite of concerns about blackmail, foreign influence, or other red flags. 

  “I would not be doing a service to myself, my country, or my children if I sat back knowing that the issues that we have could impact national security,” Newbold told the committee, according to a document summarizing her complaints.

  Newbold also said that her objections were met with retaliation. She was suspended for two weeks for failing to follow a new policy about copying documents in .pdf format. Also, Newbold is a dwarf, and she said one of her superiors stored files critical to her work above her reach.

Strike Two:A second woman has come forward to accuse maybe-a-presidential-candidate Joe Biden of being creepy-feely.

  A woman named Amy Lappos, told  The Hartford Courant that Biden “put his hand around my neck and pulled me in to rub noses with me” at a fund-raiser in Connecticut in 2009.

 “When he was pulling me in, I thought he was going to kiss me on the mouth,” she said. She said the encounter “wasn’t sexual” but Biden crossed “a line of respect.’’ 

 Say it ain’t so, Joe.

Promises, Promises:President Trump was tweeting last night that the Republicans “are developing a really great HealthCare Plan with far lower premiums (cost) & deductibles than ObamaCare”.

  Trump and Republican leaders have been promising to repeal and replace Obamacare for the past eight years and yet somehow they are unable  to describe their replacement.

  There’s also a catch in Trump’s promise: “Vote will be taken right after the Election when Republicans hold the Senate & win……”

  Trust him, it’ll be fantastic, just like his 2016 campaign promise.

Blood Money:The children of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi have been awarded with million-dollar homesin the Kingdom and a monthly five-figure stipend as compensation for the killing of their father by government agents, The Washington Postreports. 

  Khashoggi’s two sons and two daughters may also receive additional tens of millions of dollars each as part of “blood money” payments.

  Saudi leader Mohammed bin Salmon says rogue agents carried out the killing in Istanbul, although no one in the Kingdom says “boo” without his permission. This is a man who has arrested his own family members to consolidate power.

  Fred Ryan writes in the Postthat President Trump’s passivity in the face of the Khashoggi murder has damaged America’s reputation as a country that stands for what’s right. He says, “Each day that justice goes undone, the consequences of his murder grow more troubling. Each day that Trump allows the Saudis to avoid accountability, the more tyrants around the world come to believe that they, too, can kill with impunity. Each day, the reputational value that past generations of Americans have built up is squandered.”

The Roundup:The crowd stampeded last night at a vigil for murdered rap singer Nipsey Hussle. The sound of breaking glass appears to have frightened the mourners. Police have arrested a suspect in the killing, but not announced a motive. — Chicago will choose its first black woman mayor today between two candidates in a runoff election. — In a political earthquake, the ruling party of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lost local elections in Ankara, the center of his base, and possibly also in Istanbul. Results are not final.  

Funnier Than Comedy:In Ukraine, a comedian who played a man who accidentally becomes president of his country is leading in the polls to become president.

  Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who played the president on television but has no actual political experience, won about 30% of the primary vote, almost double the ballots for current Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko. They’ll face each other in a runoff next month.

  Zelenskiy’s television character was a  high school history teacher who wins election to the presidency of Ukraine after a viral video shows him ranting against government corruption. Nothing like that could possibly happen here.

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