Why Jared Kushner Poses a Threat to America’s National Security

It’s no surprise that Jared Kushner is the senior White House official described in documents from the House Oversight Committee that details testimony of Tricia Newbold who identified serious lapses in the current White House security clearance process.

The son-in-law and top aide to President Donald Trump has come under scrutiny for a long time for failing to pass the initial security clearance review. He was granted a clearance in the end after the president himself overruled all the security experts who had refused to do so.

Confirmation that Kushner is “Senior White House Official 1” in the committee’s documents reveals that he was turned down for some very serious reasons. Reporting has identified that Kushner poses a major security risk to the United States for the following reasons:

• His susceptibility to foreign influence,
• His private business interests, and
• His questionable personal conduct.

The committee’s newest leads in the investigation arose after Newbold said she was concerned that many of her determinations that employees were ineligible for security clearances had been overturned outside of the normal process.

To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.

We don’t have all the details about what exactly raised red flags in the personnel security office about Kushner. However, public reporting offers possible explanations, such as:

1. Kushner had extensive foreign contacts that he did not initially report in his application for a security clearance.
2. He was part of the infamous Trump Tower meeting with Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer promising dirt on Hillary Clinton in June of 2016.
3. He also has a close relationship with the ruthless Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman of Saudi Arabia.
4. He received help from the country of Qatar which appears to have given him a huge amount of money to bail him out one of his troubled real estate ventures.
5. Kushner is known for using his personal phone and personal email account to communicate with his foreign contacts, compromising the national security of the United States.
6. Former FBI agent Clint Watts, a cybersecurity expert, said that Kushner’s communications were highly vulnerable to hackers — and he suggested they had probably been intercepted by foreign intelligence operatives before Trump even took office.
7. Kushner has been discovered making false statements under oath, which could send him to prison.

Jared Kushner Should Immediately Be Removed From His Position

This is not a small matter. Donald Trump hired a national security threat to be one of his top advisers. And Jared Kushner, through his questionable actions, continues to put the country at risk every day he goes to work in the White House.

Jared Kushner should be removed from his senior position in the U.S. government immediately.

Leo Vidal

I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.