With the end of Robert Mueller's Russia investigation,
a major scandal was lifted off the shoulders
of President Trump.
But this is Trump we're talking about,
and he's got plenty of scandal to go around.
We begin with a whistle-blower at the White House
revealing what she describes
as serious concerns about national security.
TV REPORTER: A whistle-blower told Congress
senior Trump administration officials
granted security clearances
to at least 25 applications which had been denied,
and warning it could impact national security.
Well, look at that.
The Trump administration being careless
with national security secrets.
Don't forget, this is the same guy
who made Hillary's handling of classified information
a huge deal during the 2016 campaign.
In fact, it was the entire inspiration
behind the infamous chant "lock her up," which,
by the way, they're still doing at Trump rallies to this day.
The chant is so popular, it's been at the top
of the Billboard Hot 100 for over three years.
Yeah. And I'll be honest,
when I heard the story first, I thought,
it's actually great that everyone in the White House
is getting a security clearance because I think they need
to read the same reports that Trump reads,
so that they know if he's making stuff up.
Because Trump might say he got his intel from the CIA,
but it could also be from a random tweet. He'd just be like,
(mimics Trump): "I've got top secret information
"that AOC stands for America on Cocaine.
That's her plan, folks."
(normal voice): But as much as you want to verify
what Trump is saying, it turns out,
you have to be really careful who you give that clearance to.
TV REPORTER: According to this whistle-blower,
some of the disqualifying issues
granting security clearances
to these 25 administration officials:
improper foreign influence,
various conflicts of interest,
personal conduct issues, financial problems,
drug use, criminal conduct.
This is serious stuff.
People who have those things
in their record or in their past
are susceptible, potentially, to either blackmail
or to being compromised in some other way
by foreign entities, let's say.
Okay, that's really disconcerting.
If President Trump is granting top security clearances
to people who shouldn't have them, that's a pretty big deal,
because if you have a criminal or an embarrassing secret,
you could be blackmailed by a foreign government,
and then you have to do whatever they say.
Oh, which reminds me...
Visit Peru.
It's a beautiful country,
where you can do anything except have sex with a llama.
(cheers and applause)
Now, look, the truth is,
Trump and his people haven't been serious
about national security from the beginning, right?
Trump makes phone calls on an unsecure line, right?
He's the same guy who told the Russians Israeli secrets
that compromised anti-terror efforts.
And he even uses the nuclear football
as an actual football in a game of catch with Eric.
Now, obviously that last one was a joke.
He's never played with Eric,
but overriding security clearances
might be the worst transgression yet,
which is probably why Trump lied about doing it.
REPORTER: Earlier this year, President Trump denied
he had overruled security officials to secure
a top secret clearance for his son-in-law Jared Kushner.
The president had no involvement
pertaining to my clearance or my husband's clearance. Zero.
REPORTER: But just days after that interview,
The New York Times reported the president had, in fact,
ordered his former chief of staff John Kelly
to grant Kushner that top secret clearance.
Ah. You know, now that I hear it again,
we should have known that Trump was lying
as soon as he said,
"I don't think I have the authority to do that."
Since when has Trump ever questioned
his own authority to do anything? Right?
This is the same guy who thinks being president
gives him the authority to stare directly into the Sun, huh?
But now when he's in trouble, suddenly it's like,
"Donald, did you take the cookies from the kitchen?"
"I don't even think I'm allowed in the kitchen.
"I-I'm gonna have to check the Constitution.
"I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.
I don't know who did it."
(laughter)
(laughs): So...
so, the president may have lied
about his involvement in the scandal,
but maybe the worst part of this whole thing
is that the whistle-blower,
a career civil servant who has worked
in both Republican and Democratic administrations,
is being retaliated against for doing her job.
PAULA REID: Tricia Newbold has worked in the White House
for the past 18 years.
Newbold told lawmakers she and other career staffers
denied security clearances
for approximately 25 Trump administration officials,
only to have those recommendations overturned.
But Newbold, who has dwarfism,
alleges her superiors retaliated against her
when she raised these concerns,
including taking essential files
and putting them high up out of her reach.
Yeah.
That's a real thing
that someone has said about this administration.
Like, at some point you're like,
"What is wrong with these people?"
Right? It's like a bunch of middle school bullies
were put in charge of America's government.
Yeah. Like, you just hear in the...
You put a thing on a high shelf because a person has dwarfism?
Like, at some point we're gonna hear that they tried
to give Bernie Sanders a wedgie, you know?
And he's probably gonna be like, "Joke's on you.
I haven't worn underwear since the '60s."
(laughter)
And you know what? Massive props
to Tricia Newbold over here, the whistle-blower,
because even after facing this kind of childish revenge...
-(cheering and applause) -No, listen to this.
Listen to this.
Believe it or not, believe it or not,
she still showed up to work today
after whistle-blowing. That's gangster.
-(cheering and applause) -Like, that is...
And if they're gonna use who she is against her,
she's got to fight fire with fire.
I mean, they're putting files
someplace they think she can't reach?
Then maybe she should put Trump's files
somewhere he can't reach, like his toes.