Florida rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is filing legislation that would revoke Jared Kushner’s security clearance, arguing that allowing Kushner to have security clearance shows that “the President continues to jeopardize our national security in service of his own personal interests.” In addition, she has called for Congress “to create explicit laws ensuring the personal interests of a President do not overrule extremely basic national security protocols.”
Rep. Schultz has been working to revoke Kushner of his clearance since 2017, pushing multiple times through the Appropriations process for his clearance to be taken away.
The Congresswoman asserts that “nepotism should never override national security.”
With her White House Security Clearance Accountability Act, White House employees would be stripped of their clearance if they are found to be lying about foreign contacts on security forms. In addition, anyone that is under investigation for aiding a foreign government would also be stripped of their clearance.
Although Kushner has not been granted top-level access, the New York Times reported that President Trump had ordered for Kushner to have access to certain state secrets over the objections of former Chief of Staff John Kelly and former White House counsel Donald McGahn.
In addition, the report was made at the time that President Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, was testifying in front of Congress, and rep. Schultz focused her questions on the Russia collusion narrative.
On twitter, Wasserman Schultz shared a segment of Cohen's hearing where she asked Cohen about the Trump family and the 2016 Presidential election, asking if it was "possible the whole family could be conflicted or compromised with a foreign adversary in the months before the election?" Cohen's answer was "yes."
The bill would require the Government Accountability Office to inform of any instance since President Trump was inaugurated where clearance was given over any objections of the security staff.
However, Wasserman Schultz's legislation would ensure permanent rules are put in place to make sure abuse of power does not take place.
