Last year, President Trump directed his then-chief of staff, John F. Kelly, to give Kushner a top-secret security clearance, despite concerns expressed by career intelligence officers. “Senior staff at the White House — and particularly relatives of the U.S. president — are incredibly attractive targets for our adversaries seeking to gather intelligence or exert covert influence.”White House officials declined to comment Wednesday. The CIA is the agency responsible for granting White House officials access to government information classified above top secret. [White House whistleblower says 25 security clearance denials were reversed during Trump administration]Newbold, who worked on security clearance matters in the White House for 18 years under Republican and Democratic administrations, said she reluctantly came forward as a whistleblower over concern for national security. The panel’s vote was one of the first moves in the Democratic-controlled House to compel the White House to provide information about the Trump inner circle.

Source: Washington Post April 03, 2019 23:19 UTC