Democrats call for watchdog to probe 'glitzy' DHS nomination party

The inspector general at the Department of Homeland Security should investigate a "glitzy ceremony" held to celebrate the nomination of Kirstjen Nielsen as DHS secretary, says the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee.

The inspector general at the Department of Homeland Security should investigate a “glitzy ceremony” held at the White House to celebrate the nomination of Kirstjen Nielsen as DHS secretary, says the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee.

“Cabinet officials and corporate lobbyists enjoyed several hours of cocktails and live entertainment,” wrote Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., in a letter dated Thursday. “I find it hard to understand how a cocktail reception with corporate lobbyists benefits DHS’s mission, particularly at a time when many parts of the country, especially Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, are reeling from the effects of deadly hurricanes,” he continued.

Thompson asks Inspector General John Roth to investigate the Oct. 12 ceremony — for which the White House billed DHS $8,000, the lawmaker says — and “review the relevant policies for hosting events such as this, and the circumstances under which DHS may be charged.”

The congressman also pronounces it “troubling” that the event was staged in the East Room “a space traditionally reserved for press conferences and meetings with world leaders, not cocktail hours with representatives of special interests.”

Video of the event unearthed by Quartz magazine shows Trump Cabinet officials like Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson rubbing shoulders with top presidential advisers like Gary Cohn, Kellyanne Conway and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, and major lobbyists for government contractors, such as Stewart Verdery, who represents companies including EADS, Safran, SAP and Northrop Grumman.

Neither the White House nor the DHS inspector general’s office responded immediately to requests for comment.

One longtime observer of the nomination process in Washington said he was surprised that such a ceremony should be held at all, because it was generally unwise to make a public announcement before the formal paperwork had been completed and sent to Capitol Hill.

“I’ve never seen an ‘intent-to-nominate’ ceremony,” said Paul C. Light, a professor at New York University. “Even press releases are unusual,” he added, because “You never know what might turn up in the vetting process.”

But another veteran Washington hand, lobbyist Charlie Black, told CyberScoop such an announcement was “not unusual,” because “once you pick someone, you want to get it out was quick as possible. Otherwise it might leak.”

“Once the president’s picked someone they’ve already been vetted,” he added.

You can read the full letter below.

[documentcloud url=”http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4151678-DHS-Ceremony-Investigation-Request.html” responsive=true]

SCOTUS tosses one of two injunctions against Trump USPS mail-in ballot rules

The 6-3 decision dismisses one lawsuit brought by states, saying they have no standing to sue because the disputed sections “neither requires nor forbids anything of anyone outside…

States are building their own election defense networks as federal support evaporates 

Trump budget boss Russell Vought open to re-staffing CISA

Government

• FBI officials say AI is bolstering adversaries, emphasizing need to focus on cyber basics, patching

• Feds accuse China of ‘systematic’ distillation of U.S. AI models

• CIA’s Michael Ellis says cyber intelligence is changing how the agency operates

• The G7 tells industry to hurry up and prep for post-quantum encryption

Technology

• European parliament members call for slowdown of Serbia’s EU entry over spyware use

• FCC proposes public scorecard to rate telecoms on anti-robocall efforts

• Pegasus, NoviSpy variant spyware found on devices of Serbian activists

• Wyden seeks upgraded NSA security guidance on commercial VPN use

Threats

• Chinese espionage groups swarm to exploit triple-link chain of zero-days

• Microsoft discloses two actively exploited zero-days among 974 vulnerabilities

• Russian national extradited to US for alleged involvement in bank-account takeover scheme

• Attackers exploit zero-days in consistently besieged SonicWall product

Policy

• ‘Watershed 250’ test program in Texas looks to private sector for water cybersecurity help

• Former sexual abuse victims say Grok used their images, videos to train deepfake capabilities

• Cyber threats nudge Trump to sign executive order on foreign equipment in U.S. energy infrastructure

• Election official says Tina Peters would be consultant, won’t have access to election systems