What Everyone Gets Wrong About Kushner’s Clearance Fiasco

[edpc]

If the flap over Jared Kushner’s access to America’s deepest secrets has made one thing clear, it’s that most people don’t really understand how the clearance process works, especially in the White House.

In case you somehow missed it: Kushner’s interim Top Secret clearance has been “downgraded” to an interim Secret clearance, and Washington’s chattering class is freaking out. But in the final analysis, the practical ramifications of this just aren’t that big a deal, because Kushner and the president will be able to find workarounds if they so choose.

Here’s what many don’t get about the security clearance process: It’s a “process” except when it isn’t, and whatever “rules” might apply only apply when the president wants them to. The president has the authority to share classified information with whomever he pleases, even if it’s the Russian foreign minister.

With that basic principle in mind, let’s first address what was actually done, or, more accurately, what was not done.  Kushner’s clearance was not “denied” or “revoked.” A decision was not made that he was disqualified from handling Top Secret information but qualified to handle Secret information. And no, this had nothing to do with his financial dealings or frequent amendments of his paperwork (well, not directly at least, although they are likely responsible for the underlying delay).

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/03/01/jared-kushner-clearance-fiasco-217210?lo=ap_b1

[edpc]

A long article, which basically comes down to this:


Bottom line: If everything the White House has said about the matter is accurate, the fact that Kushner’s interim security clearance has been downgraded to Secret level probably isn’t going to have any practical effect, even on him, no matter how significant it might appear to be. We have to assume that if the president lets him see and discuss Top Secret information, there aren’t going to be many people in the White House who refuse to play ball, since there’s no criminal liability for them in exchanging information with someone the president has clearly indicated should be able to see it. However, if I’m right, then the longer the president plays games in the gray area here, the more potential criminal liability he is dropping in his son-in-law’s lap. So they may find down the road that this falls clearly into the category of “just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.”

[Right_in_Virginia]