So WP is telling us there are DOZENS at the WH lacking permanent security clearances. According to someone who has been through the process- White House staff gets bumped to the head of the line so it isn’t an FBI backlog issue. Most likely, people are being denied because of their bios and the FBI stalls the process rather than outright deny them clearance. Kelly/McGahn are told of the problems but they don’t care/do anything. Elijah Cummings in the House is trying to get answers but Trey Gowdy won’t issue subpeonas.
Another angle to this story is the fact Trump himself wouldn’t get a security clearance, yet is given the highest levels of intelligence information. Plus, he’s proven that he will leak classified info he’s give for capricious/nefarious reasons with zero regard to the process of safely declassifying info:
Yet lost in the latest controversy of the Trump presidency is the near certainty that Trump himself would fail a security clearance application. As the elected president, he is not required to possess one to have access to the nation’s most closely held information.
Without that exemption, though, a financial history that includes four business bankruptcies and allegations of fraud as well as sexual misconduct accusations by nearly two dozen women would raise multiple “red flags,” said a former Defense Department official who once held a top-secret clearance himself.
www.huffingtonpost.com/...
-
But the investigators are often reluctant to definitively deny a clearance. So if a disqualifying issue popped up, they would simply stop moving the process forward - and it would be up to the manager to pull the plug. 3/
-
My office generally had a 9-12 month rule - if you couldn't get a permanent clearance in that (pretty generous) time frame, we'd usually pull the offer. 4/
-
This reads to me like a similar issue - clearances not granted, but also not definitively denied; hiring managers (e.g. McGahn, Kelly) being informed that there are issues preventing a clearance - but then deciding to maintain the limbo rather than pull the plug. 5/
So here is the article in WP which includes a lawyer trying to make excuses:
Dozens of White House employees are awaiting permanent security clearances and have been working for months with temporary approvals to handle sensitive information while the FBI continues to probe their backgrounds, according to U.S. officials.
People familiar with the security-clearance process said one of those White House officials with an interim approval is Jared Kushner — the president’s son-in-law and one of his most influential advisers.
The issue of clearances has become a major area of concern since White House staff secretary Rob Porter resigned after allegations surfaced that he had been violent toward his two ex-wives — accusations he has denied.
www.washingtonpost.com/...