Jared Kushner lacks security clearance level to review some of the nation’s most sensitive intelligence in White House role
By Carol D. Leonnig, Josh Dawsey and Ashley Parker
July 12 at 7:08 PM
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Jared Kushner, a senior White House adviser and President Trump’s son-in-law, lacks the security clearance level required to review some of the government’s most sensitive secrets, according to two people familiar with his access.
For the first year of the Trump administration, Kushner had nearly blanket access to highly classified intelligence, even as he held an interim security clearance and awaited the completion of his background investigation.
But when White House security officials granted him a permanent clearance in late May, he was granted only “top secret” status — a level that does not allow him to see some of the country’s most closely guarded intelligence, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss security issues.
Kushner has not yet been approved to review “sensitive compartmented information,” better known as SCI. The Central Intelligence Agency determines who can access this information, which primarily involves U.S. intelligence sources and surveillance methods, they said.
That has blocked Kushner at times from seeing some parts of the President’s Daily Brief, a highly classified summary of world events that sometimes describes intelligence programs and operatives, the people said.
Kushner’s lack of SCI access suggests that the CIA has not signed off on his receiving that level of intelligence, security experts said. The White House security office has authority to independently grant a “top secret” clearance after reviewing a staffer’s FBI background investigation.
The revelation of the limits on Kushner’s access is the latest twist in his drawn-out effort to complete his security review, a process that has been dogged by questions about his foreign contacts.
The reasons for the constraints on Kushner’s intelligence access are unclear, including whether they are related to the ongoing special counsel investigation, which has examined his interactions with foreign officials.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/jared-kushner-lacks-security-clearance-level-to-review-some-of-the-nations-most-sensitive-intelligence-in-white-house-role/2018/07/12/10fae2ac-8537-11e8-9e80-403a221946a7_story.html?utm_term=.ca417309f3dc
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