Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower To Appear Before Congress
(CNN) -- The former Cambridge Analytica employee whose revelations about his former company's use of Facebook data sparked global outrage will appear before Democrats on the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees next week.
Claims made by Christopher Wylie, the former employee, raised questions about how the company handled data on millions of American Facebook users and led to Facebook suspending Cambridge Analytica from its platform while it investigates.
The company was hired by Donald Trump's presidential campaign during the 2016 election.
Wylie confirmed to CNN on Thursday that he would appear before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday and the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday.
"I hope to work with lawmakers to address the national security issues emerging from data misuse on platforms like Facebook," he told CNN. "This goes far beyond the activities of Cambridge Analytica — the security of these platforms is becoming an essential part of protecting democracies from malicious actors."
RELATED: Inside the Trump campaign's ties with Cambridge Analytica
It's not yet clear whether Republicans will participate in the interviews before the two House panels, though Republican members have been invited to take part, according to congressional aides.
House Intelligence Committee Republicans have concluded their Russia investigation, and their report is currently being declassified by the Executive Branch before it's released publicly.
Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee, has vowed to continue a Democratic investigation into Trump and Russia, and Wylie would be the first witness to appear since Republicans ended their Russia interviews.
"We believe Wylie will further our understanding of Cambridge Analytica's role in the 2016 election, its reported interactions with Russian figures, and how the company used Facebook personal data in their efforts," Schiff said in a statement.
Spokespeople for House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes and Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte did not respond to requests for comment.
Wylie, who worked for the company in 2014 and 2015, also claims Cambridge Analytica might have violated US election laws by using non-US citizens to work on American campaigns during the 2014 midterm election cycle.
Wylie showed CNN a memo that was sent to Cambridge Analytica's directors, including later Trump campaign CEO and White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and Republican donors Rebekah and Robert Mercer, describing how US law prohibits foreign nationals from making "decisions involving election-related activity."
Details from the memo and non-US citizens' work on the 2014 campaign were first reported by The New York Times and The Observer of London.
Wylie appeared before a British parliamentary committee last month, where he suggested Cambridge Analytica had been involved in the campaign for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union.
Cambridge Analytica said its former employee was peddling "false information, speculation, and completely unfounded conspiracy theories."
Cambridge Analytica blames a contractor it hired in 2014 for gathering Facebook data that breached Facebook's policies. It says it deleted all of the data when it became aware of the alleged transgression.
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