Trump Accused Of Ordering Officials To Give Jared Kushner Security Clearance

Full disclosure: I’m not a fan of Jared Kushner. I just don’t like him. He seems like a slimeball, and his voice is girly– at least compared to Ivanka’s. (Don’t get on me for being mean, because you know you’ve thought the same!)

ANYWAY.

NYT released a “bombshell” last night, accusing President Trump of ordering officials to give Kushner security clearance.

WASHINGTON — President Trump ordered his chief of staff to grant his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, a top-secret security clearance last year, overruling concerns flagged by intelligence officials and the White House’s top lawyer, four people briefed on the matter said.

Mr. Trump’s decision in May so troubled senior administration officials that at least one, the White House chief of staff at the time, John F. Kelly, wrote a contemporaneous internal memo about how he had been “ordered” to give Mr. Kushner the top-secret clearance.

The White House counsel at the time, Donald F. McGahn II, also wrote an internal memo outlining the concerns that had been raised about Mr. Kushner — including by the C.I.A. — and how Mr. McGahn had recommended that he not be given a top-secret clearance.

If that’s true, I’d say I’m with them. I don’t see any valid reason that someone like Jared Kushner needs top security clearance. Frankly, I don’t even know why he’s considered an “adviser.”

Sarah Sanders wouldn’t comment on the story. She simply said, “We don’t comment on security clearances.”

However, a spokesman for Kushner said he received clearance through “the regular process with no pressure from anyone.”

A spokesman for Kushner attorney Abbe Lowell also denied NYT’s report.

“In 2018, White House and security clearance officials affirmed that Mr. Kushner’s security clearance was handled in the regular process with no pressure from anyone. That was conveyed to the media at the time, and new stories, if accurate, do not change what was affirmed at the time,” Peter Mirijanian said.

Trump has maintained that he was never involved in the process.

Who do you believe?