South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) has sounded the call for answers in the wake of the federal government making a massive mistake in the leaking of a document containing her social security number — along with those of the rest of her family — in the public release of documents stemming from the closing of the January 6 House committee.
Noem spoke out publically as she shared the letter that her legal team issued to federal agencies to call for a response about the publicly released information as part of a Twitter post on Friday.
“My lawyers have asked the @WhiteHouse, the @USNatArchives, and @BennieGThompson which of them is responsible for leaking the Social Security Numbers of me, my husband, my 3 kids, and my son-in-law,” she stated in a tweet. “What specific measures and remedies will be taken to protect our identities?”
My lawyers have asked the @WhiteHouse, the @USNatArchives, and @BennieGThompson which of them is responsible for leaking the Social Security Numbers of me, my husband, my 3 kids, and my son-in-law.
What specific measures and remedies will be taken to protect our identities? pic.twitter.com/HWBu5ukWPP
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) January 6, 2023
The leaked information from Noem ended up being posted with the private information of close to 2,000 others in an easy-to-read breakdown of high-profile visitors to the White House in December 2020.
“The National Archives produced these visitors logs, which then became exhibits during the January 6 Committee hearing. Prior to being published as exhibits, the law required that Protected Personal Information be redacted from the visitor logs, but that was not done,” explained the letter sent from Noem’s legal team.
The letter explained that the publication of the governor’s and of her family’s private information stands as a wholesale violation of the Privacy Act of 1974 and would only end up provoking additional legal action. The lawyers are asking for an answer from everyone involved by as soon as January 13th.
This past Friday in the wake of the closing of the committee’s last public meeting last month, it released a massive series of official records, transcripts, testimonies, and other bits of information that it collected throughout its long-running investigation surrounding the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. One piece of this treasure trove of documents was a spreadsheet that contained close to 2,000 social security numbers of guests to the White House in December 2020.
On November 30th, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) issued a letter to committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) with a demand that the January 6 committee take strides to preserve all recorded data from its investigation.
“You have spent a year and a half and millions of taxpayers’ dollars conducting this investigation. It is imperative that all information be preserved not just for institutional prerogatives but for transparency to the American people,” stated McCarthy. “The official Congressional Records do not belong to you or any member, but to the American people, and they are owed all the information you gathered – not merely the information that comports with your political agenda.”