More than 30 White House officials have had their security clearances downgraded following a review ordered by Chief of Staff John Kelly.
Bloomberg News first reported the number, with President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner losing access to secrets making the biggest splash.
Kushner’s downgrade, first reported by Politico Tuesday, followed the discovery of efforts by foreign government including Mexico and China to try to manipulate the president’s son-in-law, the Washington Post revealed.
President Trump’s son in law Jared Kushner is having his top-level security clearance downgraded following a review ordered by chief of staff John Kelly. Another 30 White House staffers, according to Bloomberg, have a similar problem
LIGHT READING: Jared Kushner can no longer read government secrets at the ‘top secret’ level as his security clearance was downgraded
The foreign governments sought to capitalize on Kushner’s novice status to the world of politics and foreign policy – armed with knowledge his family business was anxious to find financial partners to ease overwhelming debt.
As part of the downgrade, he will suffer the loss of access to the president’s daily intelligence briefing.
Nevertheless, he remains a ‘valued member of the team,’ White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday.
He will now have to work through his extensive portfolio relying on information only at the ‘secret’ level.
The change comes after Kelly ordered a new review of clearance policy, following DailyMail.com’s report that former White House staff secretary Rob Porter had stayed on staff with interim clearances despite abuse allegations by two ex wives.
Both women had told the FBI information about the allegations during the extensive background check process, but it did not prevent Porter from ferrying top secret information to the president’s desk on a daily basis.
Now, the officials who have been downgraded will be working with a lower-level ‘secret’ interim security clearance.
FALLOUT: Kushner’s downgraded clearance is yet more fallout from the DailyMail’s report of abuse allegations against former White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter. Here Porter (L) reminds U.S. President Donald Trump he had a bill to sign after he departed quickly following remarks at his golf estate in Bedminster in August 2017
FALLOUT: Kushner’s downgraded clearance is yet more fallout from the DailyMail’s report of abuse allegations against former White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter. Here is an image of Colbie Holderness, the first wife of Rob Porter, who came forward with abuse allegations
Jenny Willoughby speaks to DailyMail.com about her relationship with White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter, who worked in the White House on a series of temporary security clearances despite abuse allegations against him
Their background check investigations will continue, Bloomberg News said, as none of them have been asked to leave the White House.
Instead, the officials will simply shift their work to staffers who have the proper, higher clearance.
The Post reported that at least four countries privately discussed ways to manipulate Kushner – who was new to government in 2017 and oversaw a real estate empire that took on massive debt.
Among nations trying to work the angle in some cases by dealing directly with Kushner were United Arab Emirates, China, Israel and Mexico, according to the report.
The issue of Kushner’s foreign meetings was raised with National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, who learned that the contacts were not lined up through the NSC.
A former White House official told the Post people in the building were concerned Kushner was ‘naive and being tricked.’
According to a previous statement issued by Kelly: ‘I will not comment on anybody’s specific security clearance situation or go beyond the memo released last week. As I told Jared days ago, I have full confidence in his ability to continue performing his duties in his foreign policy portfolio including overseeing our Israeli-Palestinian peace effort and serving as an integral part of our relationship with Mexico.’
‘Everyone in the White House is grateful for these valuable contributions to furthering the President’s agenda. There is no truth to any suggestion otherwise,’ he said.
The statement did not mention Kushner’s work with China, but an official said ‘he’s involved in the economic dialogue but that’s been his role on it for months.’
A senior administration official said Tuesday: ‘The president said the other day … he has great faith and confidence in Jared. He feels like he’s being treated very unfairly he never gets any credit, he works for nothing and we all know Jared works on major pieces of the president’s portfolio, foreign and domestic.’