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New York Times: Trump demanded Kushner get top-secret security clearance

By Caroline Kelly, CNN
Updated 8:56 PM ET, Thu February 28, 2019
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(CNN)President Donald Trump commanded his then-chief of staff, John Kelly, to grant Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and senior presidential adviser, a top-secret security clearance despite concerns from intelligence officials, The New York Times reported Thursday, citing four people briefed on the matter.

Trump's command to Kelly came last May, the day after the White House Counsel's Office urged him not to grant Kushner the clearance, the Times reported.

The directive prompted two internal memos -- one from Kelly on being "ordered" to grant Kushner the clearance, and another from then-White House counsel Don McGahn listing the issues raised against Kushner, including from the CIA, and advising that he not receive the clearance, according to the paper.

Kelly did not respond to the Times' request for comment.
A spokesperson for Kushner's attorney Abbe Lowell disputed the Times' characterization of Kushner's security clearance process.

"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," spokesperson Peter Mirijanian told CNN in a statement. "That was conveyed to the media at the time, and new stories, if accurate, do not change what was affirmed at the time."

Lowell told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in May 2018 that "there was ... nobody in the political process that had anything to do with" Kushner's security clearance, adding that "there was nobody who pressured it. It was just done the normal, regular way."

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement to CNN on Thursday, "We don't comment on security clearances."

The report contradicts previous assertions by Trump and his daughter Ivanka that the President did not direct White House officials to coordinate for Kushner to acquire a clearance. NBC reported last month that Kushner's application had been rejected by two White House security specialists before they were overruled by their supervisor Carl Kline, prompting House Democrats to call for acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney to revoke Kushner's access.

Kline, according to veteran White House security official Tricia Newbold, repeatedly overruled her team's determinations that a person should not receive a security clearance.

Newbold confirmed that there had been around 30 cases deemed "unfavorable" by the adjudicators in the Office of Administration, where she has worked since 2000, that were overruled and approved by Kline.

House Democrats have already called for current White House counsel Pat Cipollone to provide documents related to the security clearances of several top current and former administration officials, including Kushner and Michael Flynn.

In a Jan. 23 letter, House Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings stated the panel's intention to launch an in-depth investigation into the White House's security clearance process.

In a statement Thursday night, Cummings said the White House had not responded to that request.

"In a letter to the White House, I requested specific documents and interviews relating to Mr. Kushner's clearance and a number of others," the Maryland Democrat said. "To date, the White House has not produced a single document or scheduled a single interview. The Committee expects full compliance with its requests as soon as possible, or it may become necessary to consider alternative means to compel compliance."

Cummings added that the report "indicates that President Trump may have granted access to our country's most sensitive classified information to his son-in-law against the advice of career staff -- directly contradicting the President's public denials that he played any role."

House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff said Thursday that his committee "will be working closely" with House Oversight in investigating the administration's security clearances protocol.

Trump's reported command to Kelly "is the latest indicator of the President's utter disregard for our national security and for the men and women who sacrifice so much every day to keep us safe. There is no nepotism exception for background investigations," the California Democrat said in a statement, adding, "This is a clear indication of the deep unease that national security officials have about Kushner's suitability."
Rep. Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat who's the chair of the panel's Intelligence Modernization and Readiness Subcommittee, called those in charge of White House clearances "unscrupulous."

"I'm concerned the President has jeopardized our national security by putting clearances in the hands of unscrupulous people, and against the recommendations of background investigators," Swalwell wrote. "To ensure our deepest secrets are protected, we will work to ensure clearances are granted based on trust, not by blood or bond."

CNN's Zachary Cohen contributed to this report.

99% of these clearances go through without a hitch. Kushner must have some really bad hombres on his contact list.

Well when you lie on your disclosure form about foreign contacts you get off to a rocky start.

I wonder what conservatives would’ve said if Obama demanded that his CoS grant his daughter a TSC after failing the background checks.

They would've said nothing, it wouldn't have been reported.

Doubt it. Someone would’ve found out.

Foolish, stupid, hate Trump garbage.

By Law the President has the authority to give security clearances. He is the boss.

"In fact, the security clearance system itself is an expression of presidential authority. Its scope and operation are defined in an executive order (EO 12968), and its terms can be modified by the President at will."

"And if the President wished to grant access to classified information to a family member, for example, there would be no legal barrier to doing so."

https://fas.org/blogs/secrecy/2016/11/clearances-presidential/


Know the Laws of the Country you live in before you spew!

GO TRUMP or CRY!

40 and the trump cult don’t care about nepotism.

40 stands firm with Trump against the forces of evil who don't know or obey our Nations LAWS!

trump doesn't obey the laws though.

odd statement.

Trumpian White Autocratic Traitor Supporters... The GOP's new base. I wonder what we could call them for short? Maybe an initialism style acronym?

I heard something like this happened 30 times to individuals within trumps tenure. And that is unprecedented. Sure, the story is manufactured by the enemy of the people ... Kelly was so concerned he wrote an indelible record to file... But no real story here. Fake News!!! SMH ... Makes perfect sense that Trump should surround himself with people that don't pass the security screening but then get give access to top secret security clearance.

Just for some what about ism.... Obama did it .... Never.

That’s what they do...lie, lie, lie. They really don’t need to. But their following sheep believe them and that’s what they’ve been taught to do. So that’s what they will continue to do as their deplorable sheep help cover their tracks.

If you believe what's been reported, many of the Trump staffers can't get clearances... They seem to have problems

I'm not at all certain that Trump demanded that Kushner get his clearance. But I am sure that because of his many foreign contracts and contacts, he'd be hard pressed to get a top secret clearance..

So the question becomes, who, besides Trump, has the power to overrule the investigative bodies that say no to his Clearance? Who?

I can't think of one person that has that authority.

So, it's my conclusion that Trump lied again, and again, he didn't have to.

trump’s instincts and strategy is to lie first on everything then walk it back as need be. The question is why lie about it? Pathological liars like trump lie when they don’t have to all the time. I call it a pre Alzheimer’s crime boss or mob type tactic. trump is a pathological aging liar who can’t remember what law he broke a day after he committed it. But you guys can label it however.

The sad part is that there is a minority element of this great country who actually believe his BS. Counting sheep takes on a whole different meaning these days.

Well, the democrats do own the media.

Fixed it for you.

You know I think you guys repeat these lies so often you actually believe your own propaganda.

https://www.adfontesmedia.com/media-bias...back/#iLightbox[gallery229]/0

They're just going to tell you that a liberal made that chart.

LOL Well it might be, look at where CNN sits..

A liberal made that chart.

Including FOX news.

The media has been in the democrat party's pocket for at least a couple of years. Ever go over which party candidates the networks give money to? Yup, the democrats.

Actually, I don't think I've ever heard about a network giving money to Dems..

Have read tons on Russian Oligarchs funneling money to Republican candidates using organizations like the NRA however...

Hey Tasty....Wasn’t Cohen’s only other client besides trump, Hannity?

Oddly enough, those rumors all come from left leaning news orgs that always use terminology like, 'supposedly', 'could have', 'reportedly', 'anonymous sources', and so on.

Coming from the side that for 8 years supported the idea that Obama was a Muslim born in Kenya.

Care to provide an example of a mainstream media report that said "Supposedly" or "Could have" ??

Yeah, that's why the Russian woman that was working with the NRA is under indictment, rumors.

They're not just coming from that side, they elected that known liar as president and then say, "There's nothing to see here!"

Known liars were all that was left to vote for.

And those are the results you'll get when people don't expect more from the people they choose to vote for.

Expecting more from hill or trump would have gained you nothing. They are, at their core, who they are and "WE THE PEOPLE", put them in those positions. It's like the voting populace just threw up their hands and said, "all politicians are liars, these are ours".

Exactly. Each party chose to nominate the least trustworthy, most scummy people they could find. Each with a background that made it obvious to anyone with enough interest to look, at what terrible people they were.

Then after all was said and done, all they can do is argue that the one they support is somehow less scummy than the other. How much lower of a bar can be set than that?

It could be worse. There are idiots in the world who think that not voting was a bad thing to do last election.

Don’t vote, don’t complain.

You're right, they've nothing to complain about, this mess isn't their fault. They should just be high-fiving others that didn't vote.