The New York Times reports President Donald Trump ordered his then-chief-of-staff John Kelly to grant Jared Kushner a security clearance, despite clear evidence Kushner’s application was of concern and over objections of intelligence officials and even the White House counsel.
Kushner, who serves as Senior Advisor to the President, is also the President’s son-in-law.
“Mr. Trump’s decision in May so troubled senior administration officials that at least one, the White House chief of staff at the time, John F. Kelly, wrote a contemporaneous internal memo about how he had been ‘ordered’ to give Mr. Kushner the top-secret clearance,” the Times reports.
Then-White House Counsel “had recommended that” Kushner “not be given a top-secret clearance.”
President Trump repeatedly has denied ever having anything to do with obtaining security clearances for members of his family, including Kushner and Ivanka Trump, who is the First Daughter and White House Advisor to the President.
The Times notes that only in “highly unusual cases” does the president weigh in to grant a topsecret security clearance.