Jared Kushner is the White House senior advisor and Trump’s son-in-law. His security clearance was downgraded on Tuesday by John Kelly the White House Chief of Staff. Following the White House’s criticism by Democrats, the Federal Bureau of Investigations and majority of Americans, the White House was forced to make changes on the security clearance process in order to restore confidence in the system. The criticism of Trump’s administration was that the White House knew of Rob Porter’s indiscretions but decided to keep him on as an employee. Their excuse was that Porters background check was ongoing and that he was operating under an interim clearance.
John Kelly was also under fire because he is directly in charge of the security clearance process. He had also made positive remarks about Rob Porter when his ex-wives came forward to accuse him of domestic abuse, a fact that angered most Americans. As a result of their actions, John Kelly released a memo documenting proposed changes to the security clearance procedures. One of the reforms was that all Top Secret and Sensitive Compartmented Information clearances pending since June last year be discontinued in a week. Kushner is one of the first White House staff members to undergo the downgrade.
What Next for Jared Kushner
Kushner, a top White House aide was operating under an interim security clearance at the top secret/sensitive compartmented information level for almost a year but following his downgrade to a lower secret level, he will not be able to access White House’s deepest secrets. The Tuesday announcement caused a lot of speculation among the President’s allies who think that Trump’s son-in-law’s days in the White House may be numbered. The speculations were relative to the departure of a third Kushner ally from the West Wing on the same day. The White House announced the selection of a new Kushner ally who will serve as Donald Trump’s campaign manager in 2020.
Other Trump allies speculate that Trump could have reversed John Kelly’s decision and offered his son-in-law a clearance. Kushner has worked in the White House for more than a year without permanent security clearance.
Kushner’s attorney told Associated Press that his ability to express his duties will not be affected by any security clearance change. Peter Mirijanian, Kushner’s spokesman stated that the people involved in the security clearance process have confirmed that other staffs at Kushner’s level have their process delayed which is not uncommon. The clearing process for new White House staff commonly takes long.
