Senate Dems request probe of White House security clearances

Four ranking Democrats on key committees are calling for an investigation into whether the White House is complying with security clearance policies following reports that President Trump pushed officials to grant clearances to his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner 

Sens. Mark Warner (Va.), Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), Bob Menendez (N.J.) and Jack Reed (R.I.) wrote on Friday to the director of national intelligence and the intelligence community inspector general requesting the probe.

{mosads}”We write to request that you review compliance by the Executive Office of the President (EOP) with policies and procedures governing security clearances and access to secure compartmented information (SCI),” they said in the letter.  

They added that published reports have raised questions about “irregularities and questionable decisions.”

Among the allegations they mentioned were abuses in the granting of interim clearances and the revoking of a former senior intelligence official’s clearance for “political retribution” — an apparent reference to former CIA Director John Brennan.

They also singled out the over-ruling of unfavorable decisions by career officials and “the President’s decision himself to grant his daughter and son-in-law clearances” despite concerns from both the former chief of staff and counsel at the White House.

The senators requested that the intelligence officials give them the results of their review in 60 days. 

The New York Times reported last week that Trump pressured then-chief of staff John Kelly to grant Kushner a top-secret clearance, overriding security concerns.

CNN reported Tuesday that Trump pressured Kelly and White House counsel Donald McGahn to give Ivanka Trump security clearance despite their concerns. Over the summer, it came to light that White House aide Rob Porter had an interim security clearance for over a year despite domestic abuse allegations.