Earlier this week, White House whistleblower Tricia Newbold revealed some 25 people had initially been denied security clearances by career national security personnel—only to be overruled by political appointees.
That’s staggering enough. But it became even more so after the Washington Post revealed who one of the 25 was—First Son-in-Law Jared Kushner.
The senior White House official whose security clearance was denied last year because of concerns about foreign influence, private business interests and personal conduct is presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner, according to people familiar with documents and testimony provided to the House Oversight Committee.
Kushner was identified only as “Senior White House Official 1” in committee documents released this week describing the testimony of Tricia Newbold, a whistleblower in the White House’s personnel security office who said she and another career employee determined that Kushner had too many “significant disqualifying factors” to receive a clearance.
Their decision was overruled by Carl Kline, the political appointee who then headed the office, according to Newbold’s interview with committee staff.
So the obvious question—what red flags or flashing red lights were in Kushner’s background to make career staff reject his application for a clearance? It’s especially staggering given the troubling disclosures about his involvement with Russia.
Sounds like just the tip of a very large iceberg ...