Reviewing Ivanka Trump’s security clearance is under discussion in the Senate, due to the fact that she failed to fully divest herself from her business empire before assuming her job as White House senior advisor, an issue which poses a serious potential for conflict of interest. Newsweek:
Democratic Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, the ranking member of the GOP-controlled [Senate Foreign Relations] committee, is the first senator to demand the review and call for the first daughter to lose her security clearance if she’s found to be in violation of conflicts of interest statutes. Cardin's comments came after he expressed concern with Trump's involvement in the World Bank's new Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), which will provide millions to help women entrepreneurs in developing countries.
"I don't question Ivanka Trump’s sincerity to advance a cause she feels deeply about while making money—that's great, that's America," Cardin tells Newsweek. "What is not allowed is for anyone to profit off holding a public position. We should have full disclosure of all her financial interests, and when you don’t have that, it raises serious questions. Does that involve her security clearance? Absolutely."
Cardin's comments on Friday follow a letter he wrote to Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin earlier this week, in which the senator said foreign governments could use the women's finance fund to curry favor with Trump, a White House senior adviser whose women's fashion brand could profit off her relationship with the World Bank.
"The climate in the White House is that you can have business interests in your official capacity that will clearly have implications on your own business. But as long as there is no official connection of the dots, it’s considered OK," Cardin says. "It's not OK."
The “I” word, impeachment, may not scare this crew that much, but the “A” word absolutely terrifies them — accountability. None of them have any idea what that really means. However, it would appear that at least in Ivanka’s case, she’s about to find out.