Kushner Resists Losing Access as Kelly Tackles Security Clearance Issues
Source: MSN/The Hill
Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, is resisting giving up his access to highly classified information, prompting an internal struggle with John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, over who should be allowed to see some of the nation’s most sensitive secrets, according to White House officials and others briefed on the matter.
Mr. Kushner is one of dozens of White House officials operating under interim security clearances because of issues raised by the F.B.I. during their background checks, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the clearances. The practice has drawn added scrutiny because of Rob Porter, the former staff secretary who resigned under pressure this month after domestic abuse allegations against him became public.
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It is unclear why Mr. Kushner would want or need to review highly classified information. His current portfolio — which includes acting as an intermediary with Mexico, trying to forge Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, participating in an economic dialogue with China and working on revising the North American Free Trade Agreement — seems unlikely to involve major intelligence or national security secrets. But Mr. Kushner, by dint of his relationship with Mr. Trump, has wide-ranging access to the president and the information that he sees, and does not want to surrender it.
The fact that the White House chief of staff would take the step of publicly denying that a policy change would harm the president’s son-in-law pointed up the tension in the West Wing after the Porter episode, particularly between Mr. Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, who had been close allies of Mr. Porter, and Mr. Kelly.
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/kushner-resists-losing-access-as-kelly-tackles-security-clearance-issues/ar-BBJojZg?li=BBnb7Kz
Okay, so it seems that Kushner is not quite so cool about losing his clearance. Kelley versus Kushner in the battle of the racist versus the brat.
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