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."
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