{"slug":"trump-first-term-kushner-security-clearance-override","title":"Kushner Security Clearance Override: Intelligence Community Rejected, Trump Overruled","date":"2018-05-01","lastUpdated":"2019-02-28","description":"Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and senior White House adviser, was denied a permanent security clearance by career intelligence officials due to concerns about his foreign contacts, his foreign financial entanglements, and his failure to disclose numerous contacts with foreign nationals on his initial security clearance forms. Trump overruled career officials and granted Kushner a Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information clearance in May 2018. This was documented in a classified memo by the White House security director John Kelly, who wrote that he was overruling the career professionals' decision.","summary":"Kushner's initial SF-86 security clearance form, filed in January 2017, omitted more than 100 foreign contacts, including meetings with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak and Russian banker Sergey Gorkov. He amended the form multiple times. Career intelligence and law enforcement officials raised concerns about his business's financial entanglements with foreign nationals, including a $1.4 billion loan his family company received from Qatari-linked investors, and meetings he had had with foreign officials during the transition. Chief of Staff John Kelly wrote an internal memo stating he personally overruled the career professionals' recommendation against granting clearance. Trump later denied to journalists that he had ordered the clearance, contradicting Kelly's memo.","category":"corruption","severity":"major","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/28/us/politics/jared-kushner-security-clearance.html","title":"Trump Ordered Kushner Given Security Clearance","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-ordered-kushner-clearance-kelly/2019/02/28/story.html","title":"John Kelly's memo documents Trump overruling security clearance refusal for Kushner","publisher":"The Washington Post"},{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/trump-kushner-security-clearance-override-kelly","title":"Trump ordered Kushner's security clearance despite official objections","publisher":"The Associated Press"},{"url":"https://oversight.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/Whistleblower%20Report.pdf","title":"Whistleblower Report on Security Clearance Abuses","publisher":"House Committee on Oversight and Reform"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["Kushner","security-clearance","first-term","corruption","nepotism","intelligence","foreign-contacts"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"2017-01-18","title":"Kushner files SF-86 — omits 100+ foreign contacts","summary":"Kushner files his initial security clearance form two days before inauguration. It omits more than 100 foreign contacts, including meetings with Russian Ambassador Kislyak and Russian state banker Gorkov. He will amend it at least three times."},{"date":"2017-06-01","title":"Intelligence community raises concerns — clearance process stalls","summary":"Career officials in the FBI and CIA raise concerns about Kushner's clearance based on his omissions, financial entanglements, and transition-period foreign contacts. His clearance remains interim for an extended period as concerns accumulate."},{"date":"2018-05-01","title":"Trump orders clearance granted — Kelly documents override in memo","summary":"Trump orders Kushner's security clearance granted over the career officials' objections. Chief of Staff John Kelly documents the override in a written memo, noting he is personally overruling the career professionals' recommendation."},{"date":"2019-01-01","title":"Trump tells NYT he had nothing to do with Kushner's clearance","summary":"Trump tells New York Times reporters he played no role in Kushner's security clearance. The statement directly contradicts Kelly's written memo. Ivanka Trump later makes similar statements."},{"date":"2019-03-01","title":"Whistleblower Newbold comes forward — 25 clearances granted over official objections","summary":"White House career security official Tricia Newbold testifies to the House Oversight Committee that 25 individuals received clearances over official objections, including Kushner. She says the overrides posed national security risks and describes retaliation she faced for raising concerns."}],"location":{"name":"Washington, D.C.","lat":38.9072,"lng":-77.0369},"custom":{"era":"first-term","posture":"reported","warCrimeClassification":"enabling","internationalLaw":[],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"U.S. national security interests potentially compromised by granting clearances to individuals career officials believed posed risks; intelligence community professionals whose assessments were overruled for family relationship reasons; American public relying on security clearance processes to protect classified information","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"President; ordered Kushner's clearance granted over career officials' objections; later denied to journalists he had done so, contradicting his Chief of Staff's written memo","institution":"White House"},{"name":"Jared Kushner","role":"Senior White House adviser; son-in-law of President; omitted more than 100 foreign contacts from initial security clearance form; financial entanglements with foreign nationals raised intelligence community concerns","institution":"White House"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2019-02-28","summary":"Based on February 2019 NYT reporting on Kelly memo."}]}}