JARED’S INSECURE
PREZ KIN LOSES TOP-SECRET ACCESS
JARED KUSHNER has lost his top-secret security clearance.
President Trump’s son-in-law and unpaid adviser has had his security clearance downgraded, according to a report Tuesday.
Kushner and all other White House staffers who were working on interim clearances — making them privy to the highest level of classified information — were informed of their shrinking access on Friday, according to Politico.
The security clearance reshuffling, which came at the behest of chief of staff John Kelly, follows the fallout from a scandal involving a top White House staffer who maintained interim access for a year despite domestic violence allegations.
Kushner, married to Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka, who is also an unpaid adviser to her father, is said to have had access to highly secret presidential daily briefings and has worked on several domestic and foreign issues that require top-secret security clearances.
Kushner’s full clearance had been delayed, in part, due to incomplete information on his application and financial forms.
He has been forced to resubmit and amend his application multiple times because of his complex business entanglements, according to reports.
Also Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that senior officials in at least four countries have privately discussed ways to manipulate Kushner over his sprawling business ties.
Among the countries discussing ways to compromise Kushner were the United Arab Emirates, China, Israel and Mexico, current and former U.S. officials said. It was not clear if the officials ever acted on their discussions, but Kushner's contacts with some foreign governments have nonetheless raised red flags.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein reportedly notified the White House earlier this month that Kushner’s security clearance would be further delayed in light of previously undisclosed information.
Kushner, like his father-inlaw, is tied up in numerous development deals and real estate holdings around the globe, raising the specter of conflicts.
While Trump has the ability to grant Kushner permanent clearance, he said Friday he was leaving the decision to Kelly, a retired Marine general.
“I will let Gen. Kelly make that decision,” Trump told reporters. “I have no doubt he’ll make the right decision.”
At the same time, the President heaped praise on Kushner, calling him a master dealmaker and saying he’d “done an outstanding job.”
Trump has tasked Kushner with a wide and seemingly disparate array of responsibilities including negotiating deals between Israel and the Palestinians, prison reform, leading the White House Office of American Innovation and working on policies regarding China, despite being a political neophyte.
He’s also among dozens of White House aides who have been working without permanent security clearances for more than a year. According to reports, the move also downgraded the status of Ivanka Trump, White House counsel Don McGahn, Ivanka and White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who were also operating under interim clearances. With Chris Sommerfeldt