Tag

#security-clearance

3 incidents

Updated May 1, 2019 Corruption & Self-Dealing
Major Abuse of Power

Jared Kushner Security Clearance: Trump Overruled CIA, NSA, FBI Concerns

Kushner had 40 contacts with foreign nationals from more than 20 countries that he failed to disclose on his original security clearance form — submitting three amended versions before all contacts were documented. Career security officials recommended denying or limiting Kushner's clearance; Trump overruled them in May 2018. A White House personnel security director told a congressional committee that she had been pressured to grant the clearance against her professional judgment. Both Trump and Ivanka publicly denied Trump had intervened, before the New York Times reported he had personally ordered the clearance.

Sources
3
Kushnersecurity-clearanceCIAfirst-termcorruption
Updated February 28, 2019 Corruption & Self-Dealing
Major Abuse of Power

Kushner Security Clearance Override: Intelligence Community Rejected, Trump Overruled

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.

Sources
4
Kushnersecurity-clearancefirst-termcorruptionnepotism
Updated January 17, 2021 Rule of Law
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Intelligence Community Attacks: CIA Briefings Undermined, Officials Publicly Attacked

Trump's attacks on the intelligence community followed a pattern: dispute assessments that reflected poorly on him or contradicted foreign governments he was cultivating, attack the officials who provided them, reward officials who shaped assessments to his preferences, and revoke credentials of critics. He disputed the CIA's assessments of Saudi Crown Prince MBS's role in the Khashoggi murder, Russian interference in the 2016 election, North Korean nuclear progress, and Iranian nuclear program compliance. He revoked the security clearances of six former senior officials — all critics — and installed loyalists in acting DNI and other positions.

Sources
3
intelligenceCIArule-of-lawfirst-termBrennan