The New York Times reports President Trump ordered then-Chief of Staff John Kelly to grant his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, a top-secret security clearance last year—over the objections of intelligence officials. The Times cited four people briefed on the matter, who say Trump sought to overrule the judgment of the CIA and then-White House counsel Don McGahn, who argued Kushner should not have been granted access to top-secret documents. Kushner failed to report over 100 foreign contacts on his initial application for clearance, which was denied by the FBI after a background check into his financial history and contacts with foreign investors that took more than a year. Kushner later revised his application three times, and was ultimately granted permanent security clearance last May. President Trump has repeatedly denied intervening on his son-in-law’s behalf—including in this Oval Office interview in January with Maggie Haberman of The New York Times.
Maggie Haberman: “There’s been a story in the news in the last two weeks about your son-in-law’s security clearance.”
President Donald Trump: “Yeah.”
Maggie Haberman: “Did you tell General Kelly or anyone else in the White House to overrule security officials, the career veterans?”
President Donald Trump: “No. I don’t think I have the authority to do that. I’m not sure I do.”
Maggie Haberman: “You do have the authority to do it.”
President Donald Trump: “But I wouldn’t—I wouldn’t do it.”
Maggie Haberman: “OK. You never [inaudible]?”
President Donald Trump: “Jared is a good—I was never involved with his security.”
Jared Kushner’s wife—and President Trump’s daughter and senior adviser, Ivanka Trump—also denied President Trump played a role in winning a security clearance for Kushner. She spoke with ABC’s Abby Huntsman in February.
Ivanka Trump: “There were anonymous leaks about there being issues, but the president had no involvement pertaining to my clearance or my husband’s clearance.”
On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded to The New York Times report, saying, “We don’t comment on security clearances.”