Congressmen Raja Krishnamoorthi and Ted Lieu Lead Letter To John Kelly Asking If He’ll Fulfill Pledge To Deny Kushner Access To Classified Materials
WASHINGTON, DC — Congressmen Raja Krishnamoorthi and Ted Lieu today led 14 colleagues in a letter to White House Chief of Staff John Kelly questioning Jared Kushner’s access to top secret materials in the wake of Kelly’s announcement that those, such as Kushner, with interim clearances, would be denied that access. The text of their letter follows.
February 27, 2018
General John Kelly
White House Chief of Staff
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear General Kelly,
On February 16, 2018, you sent a memorandum to White House Counsel Donald McGahn, National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, and Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations Joseph Hagin regarding improvements to the security clearance process. In particular, this memo stated the following change to the handling of classified information:
“Effective one week from today, discontinue any Top Secret or SCI-level interim security clearances for individuals whose investigations or adjudications have been pending since June 1, 2017 or before. Similar reviews will occur for long-outstanding adjudications”[1].
Can you please confirm that Senior Advisor to the President Jared Kushner is no longer able to access TS/SCI material, including the President’s Daily Brief?
If Mr. Kushner maintains his access to classified documents, please let us know why your policy of February 16 no longer stands and what, if any, plans exist to secure access to classified information.
We thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Raja Krishnamoorthi Ted W Lieu
Debbie Wasserman Schultz Nydia M. Velázquez
Bonnie Watson Coleman Donald Norcross
Darren Soto Henry C. “Hank” Johnson
Pramila Jayapal Carol Shea-Porter
Steve Cohen Jamie Raskin
Brendan F. Boyle Frank Pallone Jr.
Mark DeSaulnier Donald S. Beyer Jr.
[1] “Read Kelly’s Memo of Proposed Changes to White House Security Clearance Process”, Washington Post, 16 February 2018.