ms. lerner. ms. lerner: chairman chaffetz, ranking member cummings and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today about the u.s. office of special counsel and our investigation of whistleblower retaliation at the tsa. i appreciate the committee's commitment to oversight, including strengthening o.s.c.'s ability to have our good government mission. i want to take this opportunity to thank this committee of passing h.r. 69. during the opening week of this congress. that legislation will help o.c.s. conduct our investigation at t.s.a. and other agencies. during our investigation, it is standard to interview witnesses. a full and complete investigation requires access to all relevant information. although agencies generally cooperate with o.s.c.'s requests, some do not. some withhold documents and other information by asserting common law privileges and in particular the attorney-client privilege. as the committee knows, the attorney-client privilege protects certain communic

ms. lerner? ms. lerner: let me just say we do get sensitive security information from tsa, we never had a problem getting that. we handle it appropriately and they can mark it as sensitive. i am confused about why they do not provide us with what they considered to be attorney-client. we can handle that information the same way we handle the ssi information, if they want to mark something as privilege, we will handle it in a confidential way and not release it. rep. chaffetz: you have a solid reputation, you do not have to convince us. we set it up so you could be the one to be the independent arbiter. ms. gowadia, is the white house external to the department? ms. gowadia: yes, they are, sir, but i don't know -- if the next question is, do you share with the white house, i do not know the answer. rep. chaffetz: the logic does not make sense which is comical. that is the problem. you are unique you are an , outlier. ms. gowadia: the guidance applies not just to tsa. rep. chaffetz: i think you are a ve

ms. lerner? >> no with is not. to have fled government agency investigate another. >> what does congress have the right to seek? what percentage would you give us quite. >> with the attorney-client privilege i am not in a position. >> yes you are berger u.s. the acting it minister. i am asking you right now to provide the information to this committee. >> clammy be offer something. as a part of getting ready for a this hearing it did come to my attention when i asked negative staff to say have we ever had any concerns expressed information that we have redacted? we found, to instances she said she had for interstate meant. as of yesterday we will always accompanied with the privilege to law. to get more information. >> when we you provide osc that correct. >> if i made that will not be sufficient to achieve is suggesting that there is of privilege emirs saying that there is none. >> your point is well taken and i concur i've interested to see all the different times the csa takes this privilege which we do not buy

ms. lerner, is a standard practice question mark >> know it is not. there is no attorney-client privilege when one government agency is investigating another. >> senator bernie sanders on the trunk administration. >> we have struggled from the inception of this country. racism,t against sexism, xenophobia, and homophobia. we are telling mr. trump and his , wends loudly and clearly are not going backwards, we are going forwards. rubio at amarco hearing on financial fraud targeting senior citizens. >> if you look at the list of the top most wanted medicare people in america, they are entirely from south florida and almost entirely recent arrivals from the island of cuba. when we are about to arrest them, they leave to cuba with millions of dollars. it is an outrage. it has been extensively covered by the press and south florida. people may think seniors are not victims, they are victims. >> all c-span programs are available at www.c-span.org and by searching the video library, and on our homepage. ♪ journal, live every day, news and policy issues that i

ms. lerner, is this a standard practice? >> no, it is not. there is no attorney-client privilege when one government agency is investigating another. >> senator bernie sanders on the trump administration. >> we have struggled from the inception of this country to fight against racism, to fight against sexism, to fight against xenophobia and homophobia, and we are telling mr. trump and his friends, loudly and clearly, we are not going backwards, we are going forwards. >> senator marco rubio at a hearing on financial fraud targeting senior citizens. >> if you look at the list of the top most wanted medicare fraudsters in america, there are almost entirely from south florida and almost entirely recent arrivals. they leave cuba with millions of dollars, in his grotesque, it has been extensively covered by the press, and people may think seniors are not victims but they are. >> all say spam programs are available at c-span.org, on our homepage, and by searching the video library. >> c-span's "washington journal," live every day with news and polic

ms. gowdia, the administrator for the transportation security administration. inspector john roth from department of homeland security. and the honorable carolyn lerner, special counsel for the office of special counsel for the office of the special counsel. you are to be sworn before you testify. so if you will please rise and raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear or affirm the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the , truth, so help you god? please be seated and let the record reflect all the witnesses answered in the affirmative. we'd appreciate if you limit your oral testimony to five minutes. we'll give you a little bit of latitude, but, of course, your entire written statement will be made part of the record. we'll now recognize the acting administrator for five minutes. by the way, you have to straighten it up and get that microphone right up in there. it's a little bit uncomfortable , but bring it up close. thank you. gowdia: thank you for affording me the opportunity and privilege to speak to you today about information transparency at the transportation security administration. i am inde

ms. lerner, is this a standard practice? >> no. it is not. there is no attorney client privilege when one government agency is investigating another government agency. >> senator bernie sanders on the trump administration. >> we have struggled from the inception of this country to fight against racism, to fight against sexism, to fight against homophobia and we are telling mr. trump and his friends loudly and clearly we are not going backwards. we are going forwards. >> senator marco rubio at a hearing on financial fraud targeting senior sit scitizens. >> if you look at the top of the top they are almost entirely from south florida and recent arrivals from cuba. when we are about to arrest them they leave to cuba with millions of dollars. it is outraged and grotesque. people may think seniors are not victims. >> all c-span programs are available at c-span.org on our home phageage and by searching video library. >>> next, a look at how the trump administration might approach defense policies. speakers include two former pentagon officials who