From the Committee on Oversight & Government Reform website:
Washington, DC (Dec. 13, 2013)—Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent a letter to Committee Chairman Darrell Issa requesting that he abandon the unnecessary and confrontational subpoena he issued to government contractor MITRE Corporation demanding sensitive security documents relating to the Healthcare.gov website. If Issa refuses, Cummings’ letter calls on Issa to follow House Rules and hold a Committee vote before releasing any documents obtained pursuant to his subpoena.
Issa issued his unilateral subpoena on Monday while Cummings was in South Africa for Nelson Mandela’s funeral, and he rejected requests by Democratic staffers to wait two days until Cummings returned. Issa’s actions contradicted a commitment he made to consult with Cummings before issuing subpoenas and, according to Cummings’ letter, “leave the impression that you were rushing to issue the subpoena before I returned to the United States.”
The documents under subpoena are Security Control Assessments conducted by MITRE. According to Cummings’ letter, MITRE security officials warned Issa repeatedly in letters on November 5, November 22, and December 4 that “the documents you are demanding include software code and other technical information that is highly sensitive and that MITRE officials believe could give hackers a roadmap to compromise the security of the website and the personal information of American citizens.”
http://democrats.oversight.house.gov/...
I sure as heck wouldn't trust grifter Issa with the information he is requesting. The entire letter Rep. Cummings sent Issa is well worth the read:
http://democrats.oversight.house.gov/...
It includes a lengthy section titled, "Record of leaking Sensitive Information Without Consultation", outlining much of Issa's track record as an untrustworthy guardian of secrets.
Update 1:
The Department of Health & Human Services is refusing to turn over the documents subpoenaed by Issa. From Politico:
The Health and Human Services Department told House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa that it won’t turn over documents related to the security of the Healthcare.gov website because it can’t trust him to keep secret information that could give hackers a roadmap to wreak havoc on the system.
Issa has issued a subpoena to MITRE, a government contractor, to turn over unredacted copies of security-testing documents by noon Friday. At issue are website development plans MITRE drafted for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which is under HHS. Already, Issa has been given access to the documents he seeks “in camera” — meaning committee staff were able to review them in a room but not keep them — but he is seeking physical copies.
In a letter Thursday, Assistant Secretary for Legislation Jim Esquea told Issa that “the committee’s unwillingness to commit to undertake measures to address the security risks associated with further disclosure is troubling, particularly in light of reports that sensitive materials were disclosed through various investigations.” Administration officials worry that Issa intends to put them in the public domain, which Esquea argues could compromise the security of the site.
http://www.politico.com/...
For more on the HHS refusal, check out Hunter's diary:
http://www.dailykos.com/...