Schmidt Wrote:Schmidt Wrote:In another thread we discussed Jared Kushner's security clearance. I could not dig that thread out, so I'll bring the topic up again here. There has been much media speculation about Kushner's security clearance in light of the fact that he not only tried to set up a secretive back door to the Russian government through the Russian embassy, but he also is one of the participants in the "Hillary Clinton dirt" meeting with the Russians at Trump Tower. He conveniently omitted that fact from his disclosure form when he was being vetted for the job of senior aide to the president. It should automatically preclude him from getting any kind of security clearance under a normal presidency.
However, under this presidency it has now been revealed that Kushner enjoys top level security status meaning that he has access to anything the president gets including the presidential daily briefings. Why does he have this high level of a security clearance? Because of the president's authority to grant him that status. And don't expect Trump to take away what he has giveth.
See the Time article below.
Time: Could Jared Kushner Actually Lose His Security Clearance? We Asked the Experts
"Ultimately it is the President who makes the call whether someone should be granted clearance," said Laura Terrell, an attorney who worked in the White House Clearance Counsel during the George W. Bush Administration. "He is the chief officer and the one who makes that decision."
"As the son-in-law to the President, no one is going to revoke that clearance unless it is with the acquiescence of the President, so functionally it is the President who can make the decision," said Timothy Flanigan, who served as Deputy Counsel in the George W. Bush administration. "Given the relationship between Kushner and Trump, it's unlikely the President would revoke Kushner's clearance."
So there you go. This is what nepotism is all about.
Who cares? It depends. Along Jared's point, is Kushner's security clearance really more important than who wins at "Dancing with the Stars"? Most likely not to most Americans.
I have referenced my post above because of the date...July 2017. Kushner's security clearance has been a topic of controversy ever since he was appointed to his job as senior advisor. And it mostly relates to his New York real estate transactions, the financing of the 666 5th Avenue building in New York being the most often cited in the media. It appears that Kushner could have been using his position in the Trump government to seek foreign financers for his 666 5th Avenue debt. He doesn't have much to offer in return except "influence peddling".
However, Kushner was a shady character even before taking on the debt perhaps learning tricks from his father. From Wikipedia, his father, Charles Kushner, was fined and went to jail for "18 counts of illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, and witness tampering. The witness-tampering charge arose from Kushner's act of retaliation against William Schulder, his sister Esther's husband, who was cooperating with federal investigators; Kushner hired a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law, arranged to record an encounter between the two, and had the tape sent to his sister. Kushner was sentenced to two years in prison, and served 14 months at Federal Prison Camp in Montgomery, Alabama before being sent to a halfway house in New Jersey to complete his sentence. He was released from prison on August 25, 2006."
Like father, like son. Besides the real estate financing there are all the other possible charges against Jared Kushner of trying to open a back door to contact Russians, lying to the FBI and perhaps even more that only Mueller knows about. The guy should never have set foot in the White House, but he has been there for over a year and it doesn't look like he is going out the door yet despite the loss of his security clearance. The guy is just incompetent and less than honest. Why cannot Trump let go of him?
Jared Kushner will be indicted, but unlike his father who spent time in jail, Jared will have the benefit of a presidential pardon.
Don't forget all the