White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, still has not passed a comprehensive background investigation that is required for security clearance and has been working with an interim clearance for nearly a year, according to a new report.
Investigators are combing through Kushner’s active foreign investments. His permanent security clearance has been stalled because of his omissions of foreign contacts and revised financial disclosure forms filled out ahead of Trump taking office, Newsweek reports.
“The real question is why hasn’t his clearance been denied?” Allan Edmunds, a senior attorney specializing in security clearance law, told Newsweek. “Of course, the real reason it hasn’t been denied yet is because nobody has the moxie to tell the president his son-in-law can’t be working in the White House, even though he shouldn’t be.”
According to seven lawyers at firms that deal with security clearance law, Kushner’s clearance should be suspended until it is determined whether Kushner’s lack of disclosures are intentional or not, the news outlet reported.
Kushner has been at the center of controversy surrounding his repeated lack of disclosures in past months. Last month, Congressional investigators said Kushner left out several emails including one he forwarded about a “Russian backdoor overture and dinner invite” to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Kushner also failed to include the names of more than 100 foreign officials that he met with before joining the Trump administration on his national security clearance and changed his financial disclosure forms at least 39 times.
You can read all of Newsweek’s report here.
