White House learned of delay in Kushner’s security clearance

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department informed the White House this month there were substantial issues related to Jared Kushner that still needed to be investigated and would significantly delay a recommendation on whether he should receive a permanent security clearance, according to two people briefed on the matter.

The White House was not told what the issues were involving Kushner, President Trump’s son-inlaw and senior adviser. But the notification led White House lawyers and aides to believe they were more problematic than the complexity of his finances and his initial failure to disclose contacts with foreign leaders — the reasons Kushner’s lawyers have said are holding up the process, the two people said.

An interim clearance has given him access to closely guarded information, including the presidential daily brief, the intelligence summary Trump receives every day. The issue took on added urgency after the chief of staff, John Kelly, issued a sweeping review of interim clearances in response to the disclosure that the White House staff secretary, Rob Porter, had his permanent security clearance delayed for a year because of spousal abuse allegations.

In a memo to the White House staff, Kelly said he would cut off high-level access to many of the aides who had been unable to get a permanent clearance.

The new details about Kushner’s security clearance, first reported by the Washington Post, emerged hours after Trump said Friday that he would leave it up to Kelly to decide whether Kushner could continue to hold his interim clearance.

Trump’s statement set up a potential confrontation between his son-inlaw and his chief of staff, who have clashed privately in recent months.