Kelly may be a former four-star general, but Jared Kushner is protected by five-star nepotism. Despite a policy that cuts others off from classified information if their security waiver hasn’t yet come through, Jared Kushner continues to read whatever he wants, from Trump’s otherwise unread daily briefing, to the details of military operations, without restriction. And it seems like it’s going to stay that way.
Kelly does not plan to recommend to the president that he grant Kushner a waiver, but he is unlikely to resign if Trump ultimately decides to do so, according to a person familiar with his thinking.
The fact that several members of the West Wing were still operating on interim clearance came to light only after all the shenanigans around multiple-wife-beater Rob Porter came to light. In Porter’s case, it was clear that the expedited FBI assessment was actually completed within a few months of Trump entering the White House. It was only a repeated insistence that “no” was not an acceptable answer, and repeatedly sending the report back to the FBI, that allowed the White House to claim that Porter’s clearance was incomplete.
Which brings up the most important issue … why doesn’t Kushner have clearance? For workers at defense contractors, getting clearance can be an extended process, but members of an incoming White House staff are given priority. There’s nothing magic about the clearance process. It doesn’t take a year, or two years, to grow from a seed. It’s simply a matter of some hours from FBI personnel, and when it’s White House staff, they put in those hours quickly.
Somewhere, right now, there is a file containing the FBI’s assessment of Jared Kushner’s security risk. Very likely that file is sitting in the White House. Very likely, John Kelly—and others—have seen it. Because if there were not problems, there is no way that Jared Kushner would still be on interim clearance.
Some Trump officials might be on interim clearance simply because they haven’t been there that long. After all, Trump’s White House team has seen a record level of turnover. But with Kushner, he’s not only been there from day one, it was obvious that Kushner would play a role in Trump’s White House even before the election. Someone has been trying to justify handing secure documents to Jared Kushner for well over a year—but they haven’t been able to do so.
Read More