Jared Kushner, senior White House adviser and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, issues more requests for information from intelligence community sources than anyone else in the White House who does not work on the National Security Council, a source told The Washington Post.
Experts told the Post that it is rare for someone in an administration for as long as Kushner has been, 13 months, to have a level of interim security clearance. Kushner's clearance has faced obstacles and he has repeatedly amended his form, adding details of his contacts with foreign officials previously undisclosed.
Two U.S. officials said they did not expect Kushner to get permanent clearance in the near future, The Post reported Feb. 9.
White House chief of staff John Kelly has been frustrated with Kushner’s access despite lacking full clearance, a senior administration official said in the report. Kelly has said that the White House will, beginning next week, not allow some people with interim clearances to access top-secret information.
That announcement put a “bull’s eye” on Kushner, the official said in the Post. A memo the Post obtained said that the discontinuance would apply to those whose clearances have been pending since June 1 or before — which would include Kushner.
Kushner’s responsibilities include overseeing peace efforts in the Middle East, improving federal government efficiency, and acting as the administration’s interlocutor with allies such as China and Saudi Arabia, the report said.
He has been present at meetings in which classified information was discussed, and he has access to the president’s daily brief, a digest of intelligence updates from spies, satellites, and surveillance, people with knowledge of Kushner’s access reported to the Post.
The Defense Department grants most interim clearances, and they expire after 12 months, said Evan Lesser, president and founder of ClearanceJobs.com, which helps place employees who have clearances into government jobs, The Post reported. Kushner’s 13-month period without clearance is “very unusual,” Lesser said.
Some members of the National Security Council also do not have permanent security clearances, NBC reported Thursday. Only 10 out of the 24 members had been issued permanent clearance as of November 2017, the NBC report said.
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