The chairman of the House Oversight Committee says the White House has not been cooperative in a growing probe of security clearances given to members of the Trump Administration.
The accusation comes on the heels of a stunning report in the New York Times Thursday, citing four sources who claim former chief of staff John Kelly said President Donald Trump ordered him to get a top-level security clearance for his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, approved. ABC News has not independently confirmed the report which cites a memo written by Kelly.
Trump told the Times last month he "was never involved in his [Jared’s] security" clearance. Earlier this month, in an exclusive interview with ABC News’ Abby Hunstman, Ivanka Trump said " the president had no involvement pertaining to my clearance or my husband's clearance, zero.",,,
“It is highly usual for the president to override security officials and instruct them to grant a security clearance to someone who has been deemed high risk,” said former Homeland Security official and current ABC News contributor John Cohen. “The security clearance process is one of the ways we protect our nation’s most sensitive secrets. And while the president has the authority to override the process, it doesn’t mean he should because it may place our national security at risk.”
“We don’t comment on security clearances," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement to ABC News Thursday night.
Peter Mirijanian, spokesperson for Abbe Lowell, the attorney for Kushner, said in a statement, “In 2018, White House and security clearance officials affirmed that Mr. Kushner’s security clearance was handled in the regular process with no pressure from anyone. That was conveyed to the media at the time, and new stories, if accurate, do not change what was affirmed at the time.”
-------------------------------- We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb
Bazootiehead-in-training
Posts: 37873 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010
I firmly believe that Individual 1 himself would never qualify for a security clearance if he weren’t president. There is way too much sketchy sh*t in his past and, as we keep seeing, he is way too easy to compromise.
I thought Jared's interim clearance was revoked, and his permanent one is still under investigation? I guess I missed a step. When did he get a permanent security clearance?
And yes, pj, I totally agree. Trump himself would have never received a security clearance had he not been elected potus.
Posts: 35377 | Location: West: North and South! | Registered: 20 April 2005
