NEWSWEEK U.S. Edition dec. 01, 2017
JARED KUSHNER CAN’T PASS HIS SECURITY
CLEARANCE INVESTIGATION, OFFICIALS SAY
Updated |
Jared Kushner is a security risk embedded in the West Wing since he still
hasn't passed a comprehensive background investigation required of anyone
seeking a permanent security clearance—and no one will question the
president's decision to put his son-in-law in a crucial government role,
experts and officials told Newsweek.
President
Donald Trump's senior adviser has been working under an interim security
clearance nearly a year into the administration, as investigators continue to
assess his trustworthiness and analyze his web of active foreign investments,
according to two sources with knowledge of the status on Kushner's clearance.
Kushner's permanent security
clearance was stalled because he initially omitted 100 foreign
contacts before revising his forms three times. Kushner's
complicated business interests are also being considered after
he repeatedly revised financial
disclosure forms. But experts said the sheer volume of his ongoing ties to
foreign investors is enough to deny anyone access to classified information.
"The
real question is, Why hasn't his clearance been denied?" said Alan
Edmunds, a senior attorney specializing in security clearance law at
the Edmunds Law Firm. "Of course, the real reason it hasn’t been
denied yet is because nobody has the moxie to tell the president his son-in-law
can't be working in the White House, even though he shouldn't be."
The
process for getting a government security clearance is well established:
Adjudicators from the FBI comb through a form called an SF-86 while making an
official assessment as to whether someone can be trusted with the nation's
secrets. Those analysts take into account personal history, such as employment,
relationships, foreign entanglements and business
deals—and review revisions and mistakes that would-be officials have made
on their disclosure forms.
Kushner
has updated his forms to add a slew of Russian contacts he had throughout
the 2016 presidential campaign, following a pattern of not properly
disclosing information on government records.
Experts say Kushner's original
SF-86 questionnaire may have violated the personal conduct
code in federal directives for security clearance applicants, since
his failure to disclose any foreign contacts on his original forms could
be considered the equivalent of making false statements.
Newsweek spoke
with seven of the nation's leading law firms specializing in security clearance
law, with clients throughout the Trump administration and federal government.
All seven said Kushner's security clearance should be suspended until
investigators can determine whether his failures to disclose information
were intentional. Meanwhile, the White House has claimed the delay in Kushner's clearance is normal
due to a backlog in applications.
For months, Democrats have
called for Jared Kushner’s security clearance to be revoked. NICHOLAS KAMM, GETTY
"People occasionally treat
this like it’s a minor deviation from the truth, the way a person may deviate
from the truth on income tax filings, but it’s not just a
deviation," Mary Kuntz, a Washington, D.C., attorney at
Kalijarvi, Chuzi, Newman & Fitch, P.C., told Newsweek. "It's serious.... It’s evidence you
can't be trusted and makes the likeliness of you getting a security
clearance even less."
Kushner's attorneys have
maintained their client's innocence from the very beginning, claiming the
senior adviser has always tried to be honest and transparent despite his
records routinely featuring extensive mistakes. Ethics watchdogs have previously lambasted the former
tech entrepreneur and budding real estate magnate for not including one of his
companies on a government financial disclosure form, in a move that allowed him
to maintain a stake in the young startup while profiting from its explosive success during
his transition to public service.
"It's one thing if you call
in and admit to forgetting one or two contacts.… Let’s face it, some people in
government have multiple foreign connections," Greg Rinckey, a
founding partner at Tully Rinckey, told Newsweek. "But
when you forget a hundred, that’s concerning. The whole point of security
clearances are to minimize threats. All this shows a lack of candor on
Kushner’s part, a major issue with receiving a clearance."
Even if
his forms were completely accurate from the start, however,
Kushner's foreign business dealings would immediately
raise investigators' eyebrows.
Kushner maintains a stake in
several businesses and properties with international ties, including a
41-story office building at 666 Fifth Avenue in New York City, on which
his family business, Kushner Cos., reportedly owes hundreds of millions. To raise funds, the
company has sought foreign investment from China, Saudi Arabia, France,
Israel and Qatar.
Experts
say his stake in the Fifth Avenue building alone is more than enough to
cause a suspension of an interim security clearance, as some believe he could
use his position in the White House to bail out his family's investment.
"If Jared Kushner was
working for any other department in the U.S. government and these issues
arose…about falsifying a clearance or omitting information…his access would be
first suspended. And then if there’s no other position he could hold, he’d be
out of work without pay. He’d be off the job," Joseph Kaplan,
founding principal attorney at Passman & Kaplan, P.C., told Newsweek. "If he was anybody else, his security
clearance would have already been denied."
Today
is Thursday. That means we need to ask again: Why does Jared Kushner still have
a security clearance? Also, why does Ivanka have one? https://twitter.com/Newsweek/status/918433582183567360 …
Democrats
have been sounding the alarms on Kushner’s security clearance ever since
Trump took office, questioning how he and his wife, White House senior
adviser Ivanka Trump, managed to obtain access to classified information, and
what qualifications permitted them to work in the West Wing.
"I find it demoralizing. I'm
a member of Congress, and I've had a security clearance when I was in the Air
Force. I know if I submitted two false clearances, they would have me under
investigation," Representative Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), who has long
advocated for Kushner’s security clearance to be revoked, told Newsweek.
"If
I also was responsible for a $1.2 billion debt on a building in which half is
attributable to me and my family, they would simply not give me a security
clearance," Lieu added. "We also need to ask: When Jared Kushner
takes trips to foreign countries, is he asking foreign officials to help
him finance the 666 building?"
Several
requests for comment from Kushner’s legal team and the White House
communications office went unanswered. Representatives from federal agencies
involved in the security clearance application process declined to comment on
the record, citing a practice of not commenting on specific applications.
Regardless
of whether Kushner is actually qualified to get a security clearance, little is
likely to change in the West Wing, as the president has the ultimate
authority in determining whether his son-in-law and Middle East peace envoy
eventually receives a permanent clearance.
"The
entire security clearance process comes down to the president," said Sean
Bigley, an attorney who did background checks for security clearances
and worked in the Department of Homeland Security under President George W.
Bush. "It would be extremely rare—almost unheard of—though [Trump] could
order a clearance to be granted, or reverse an adverse decision made by
adjudicators if he wanted to. But most of the time we see these cases are left
to nonpolitical career personnel."
Kushner remains in the White
House despite multiple failures to disclose his foreign contacts and business
assets.DREW ANGERER, GETTY
As
investigators pore through Kushner's documents, he still has access to
America’s secrets under his temporary security clearance. And that rankles the
nation's security experts.
"None
of this is normal, including the president requesting security clearances for
his children," Edmunds said. "I’ve never known a president
to do that."
Correction: This article
was updated to correct the spelling of Alan Edmunds's first name, as well as
the law firm Kalijarvi, Chuzi, Newman & Fitch.
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2017 NEWSWEEK LLC
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