Pulitzer prize-winning security expert denied White House clearance

A Pulitzer prize-winning computer security expert recently hired by the Chief Technology Officer of the United States, Megan Smith, has been denied a security clearance and is heading to the West coast. Ashkan Soltani was previously the chief technologist at the Federal Trade Commission. He was hired by the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy as a senior adviser to Smith in December. On Jan 29 he posted to Twitter that he was disappointed to announce his departure as he had been notified that he would not receive the security clearance necessary to continue working at the White House.

Soltani said that he didn't know why he had failed the check, but that he had passed the mandatory drug screening and the FBI background check was still underway. There was "no allegation that it was based on my integrity or the quality of my work," he said. Soltani was on the team that won a Pulitzer Prize at The Washington Post for investigating surveillance initiatives of the National Security Agency. He had researched and written about Edward Snowden, security, national policy and other issues at the Post, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Many on Twitter speculated that his work about Snowden's leaks might have predisposed the security staff to distrust him.