White House: Security clearance review won’t affect Kushner

The White House says its recent decision to clamp down on temporary security clearances will not affect senior adviser Jared Kushner, who reportedly does not have a full clearance. 

White House chief of staff John Kelly announced last week in a memo, obtained first by The Washington Post, changes to the administration’s handling of temporary security clearances. That response was meant to address concerns raised over former staff secretary Rob Porter, who handled classified information for months on a temporary clearance even though his background check raised allegations of domestic abuse. 

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While Kushner reportedly has a temporary clearance, the White House denied that the move would hinder the performance of the trusted aide and son-in-law to President Trump, whose expansive portfolio touches on everything from prison reform to peace in the Middle East. 

“I can tell you that no decision within the memo will impact anything that Jared Kushner is working on. In terms of specifics on security clearance, I can’t get into that,” press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters on Tuesday. 

Kelly’s five-page memo listed a handful of changes the White House has made and will make to tighten up access to classified information, including limiting new interim clearances and cutting off certain clearances for those whose investigations have been pending since last June. Sanders would not address reports that Kushner is still operating on a temporary clearance, but added that she has no reason to believe that any “red flags” were raised in his background check despite reports he is still waiting to be cleared. 

Kushner has updated his security clearance forms a handful of times since Trump’s inauguration, including to add a number of foreign contacts he’s had that weren’t previously listed.

CNN reported last week that as many as 100 White House staffers were working with temporary security clearances as late as November of last year. 

Porter resigned earlier this month after reports surfaced that both of his ex-wives had accused him of physical abuse.