President Donald Trump’s senior advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner is resisting giving up his access to highly classified information, setting off an internal struggle with White House chief of staff John Kelly, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
Kushner is one of dozens of White House officials operating under interim security clearances because of issues raised by the FBI during their background checks — and in the wake of the resignation of top aide Rob Porter amid domestic abuse allegations, the Times reported, citing unnamed officials.
The clearance gives Kushner access to closely guarded information — including the presidential daily brief, the intelligence summary Trump receives every day — something he’s holding onto fiercely, according to the Times.
The Times reported that Kushner and his wife, presidential daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump, have been critical of Kelly in conversations with the president — and have told people around the White House that though they’ve defended Kelly in the past, they’re being treated unfairly in return.
One unnamed source “familiar with Kushner’s thinking” denied that he felt personally targeted by Kelly or was agitating to have him removed, the Times reported. Another unnamed White House official denied Kushner had ever raised the issue of the daily intelligence summary in his talks with Kelly.