Trump sought top-secret security clearance for Jared Kushner last year despite concerns from John Kelly and intelligence officials
By Josh Dawsey , Josh Dawsey Reporter covering the White House Email Bio Follow Seung Min Kim and Seung Min Kim White House reporter Email Bio Follow Shane Harris Shane Harris Intelligence and national security reporter Email Bio Follow February 28 at 8:50 PM President Trump early last year directed his then-chief of staff, John F.
It is unclear how Kelly responded to Trump’s directive. But by May, Kushner had been granted a permanent security clearance to view top-secret material — a move that followed months of concern inside the White House about his inability to secure such access. Trump’s push to get Kushner clearance — and the chief of staff’s concerns about it — was first reported by the New York Times, which also reported that then-White House Counsel Donald McGahn had concerns about Kushner’s clearance.
“That was conveyed to the media at the time, and new stories, if accurate, do not change what was affirmed at the time,” he added.House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff said in a statement late Thursday that his panel, as well as the House Oversight Committee, will continue in their investigation of the White House’s security clearance process.
In the first year of the administration, Kushner held an interim security clearance that allowed him to view both top-secret and sensitive compartmented information, which is classified intelligence related to sensitive sources. With that designation, he has been able to attend classified briefings, get access to the president’s daily intelligence report and issue requests for information to the intelligence community.
That meant that Kushner was effectively barred from seeing information gleaned from human spies or from the government’s vast signals intelligence apparatus. It’s that kind of intelligence that forms the basis of the president’s daily intelligence briefing and that is customarily given to senior policymakers and Cabinet officials.
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