- Rep. Elijah Cummings, chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, responded on Thursday to a NBC
News report about White House adviser and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner's security clearance. - Kushner's clearance has previously been the subject of scrutiny.
- In July of 2018, The Washington Post reported that Kushner held "top secret" security clearance - but had not yet been approved by the CIA for "sensitive compartmented information," or SCI, clearance - after having interim clearance for more than a year.
- Now NBC News is reporting that initially two career White House career security experts deemed his application for "top secret" clearance "unfavorable," according to two NBC News sources.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, responded on Thursday to a NBC News report about White House adviser and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner's security clearance.
"We expect the White House to produce all of the documents and interviews we requested to determine if tonight's breaking story is accurate," Rep. Cummings' office said in a statement posted to Twitter by Politico reporter Rachael Bade on Thursday.
Kushner's clearance has previously been the subject of scrutiny.
In July of 2018, The Washington Post reported that Kushner held "top secret" security clearance - but had not yet been approved by the CIA for "sensitive compartmented information," or SCI, clearance - after having interim clearance for more than a year.
Now NBC News is reporting that, initially, two career White House security experts deemed Kushner's application for "top secret" clearance "unfavorable," according to two NBC News sources. Allegedly, supervisor Carl Kline, a former Pentagon employee, overruled their recommendation and Kushner was granted "top secret" clearance.
Kline was appointed as the director of the personnel security office of the Executive Office of the President in May of 2017, NBC News reported. The sources who spoke to NBC News said Kline had disregarded the career adjudicators' advice around 30 times.
INSIDER was not immediately able to independently verify this report, and the White House did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday night.
The US State Department says that "adjudicative guidelines include: Allegiance to the United States; Foreign Influence; Foreign Preference; Sexual Behavior; Personal Conduct; Financial Considerations; Alcohol Consumption; Drug Involvement and Substance Misuse; Psychological Conditions; Criminal Conduct; Handling Protected Information; Outside Activities; and Use of Information Technology."
In another report about his security clearance woes - before he was able to get permanent clearance - The Washington Post said "Kushner's contacts with certain foreign government officials have raised concerns inside the White House and are a reason he has been unable to obtain a permanent security clearance. Kushner held and interim security clearance, which had been downgraded in February of 2018 from "top secret" to "secret," for more than a year.
Kushner's focus in the White House has been on the Middle East, Mexico, and the innovation office.