"We are getting reports from the press and from a wide variety of sources that indicate that… we are conducting foreign relations with folks with security clearances via WhatsApp," Ocasio-Cortez said at a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on White House security clearances on Tuesday.
“I mean every day that we go on without getting to the bottom of this matter is a day that we are putting hundreds, if not potentially thousands of Americans at risk. I mean, really. What is next? Putting nuclear codes in Instagram DMs?"
Ocasio-Cortez also called on lawmakers to get to the bottom of alleged wrongdoing from the Trump administration when it comes to granting security clearances, noting that “every day that there is an insecure line of communication that could be leaked, that could be hacked, that could be screenshotted without proper channels is a day that we are putting our national security at risk.”
READ MORE: Ocasio-Cortez on Ethics Allegations: ‘Random Claims’ Filed by ‘GOP Troll Groups’
House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) on Monday released a memo revealing "grave" concerns a career White House official raised to the panel about the administration's security clearance process. Cummings also wrote a letter to White House counsel Pat Cipollone in March saying he'd obtained information regarding Kushner's use of WhatsApp and personal email to conduct government business.
Ocasio-Cortez, however, is herself facing three complaints regarding possible ethical and financial rules violations as well as allegations that she had used House resources for personal use when she allowed her boyfriend to obtain a House.gov email address. The Democratic Rep. claimed at the time that it was perfectly normal for spouses of House members to have email addresses that would allow them access to the member’s calendar, yet made no comment regarding the claim that she had falsely designated her boyfriend as a staff member.