Trump Reportedly Granted Ivanka’s Security Clearance, Bypassing Kelly And McGahn
Ivanka Trump in the Oval Office with her father President Donald Trump — April 24, 2017, (AP/Susan Walsh)
1. Abusing power for nepotism: CNN has new reporting that reveals President Trump not only interfered with the security clearance process for his son-in-law Jared Kushner, but he also did so for his daughter Ivanka Trump. Then-Chief of Staff John Kelly and White House Counsel Don McGahn recommended that Ivanka not be granted a security clearance, but Trump pressured them to grant her one anyway. When they didn’t follow his demand, he granted it himself. CNN reported:
“..after concerns were raised by the personnel office, Trump pushed Kelly and McGahn to make the decision on his daughter and son-in-law’s clearances so it did not appear as if he was tainting the process to favor his family, sources told CNN. After both refused, Trump granted them their security clearances.”
This comes after last week’s report from the The New York Times alleged President Trump ordered Kelly to grant Kushner’s security clearance despite the concerns of McGahn and the CIA. Kushner had several problematic conflicts of interest due to his ties to foreign nationals. Both of these reports contradict what Ivanka Trump previously stated in an interview with ABC News: “The president had no involvement pertaining to my clearance or my husband’s clearance, zero.”
EXCLUSIVE: Ivanka Trump says she and her husband Jared Kushner received no special treatment from her father when obtaining their top security clearances.
“The president had no involvement pertaining to my clearance or my husband’s clearance, zero.” https://t.co/88dUizY8Ht pic.twitter.com/MsanC4qzQC
— ABC News (@ABC) February 8, 2019
The White House refused to comment on this latest development, but they have been trying to rebuff document requests from the House Oversight Committee related to these clearances.
2. Corruption investigation update: The Washington Post reported that Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen has privately stated that Trump’s legal team dangled a pardon to him in the months after his properties were raided in 2018. This comes as House investigators have ramped up their investigations into President Trump’s lifetime of corruption, requesting documents from 81 people and entities in Trump’s orbit. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff made an important hire by bringing in former prosecutor of Russian organized crime Daniel Goldman.
Today, a Quinnipiac poll revealed 64% of voters say Trump committed crimes before he came into office and 45% say he has committed crimes while in office. 33% of Republicans also believe Trump committed crimes before he became president, which is interesting since over 90% of Republicans still support him. In other words, many Republicans think Trump is a criminal and support him anyway. Another notable tidbit includes the fact 50% of voters believe Michael Cohen while 35% believe Donald Trump. The American people believe a convicted liar more than the President of the United States. Many would say that belief is justifiable, given the fact President Trump has lied at least 9,000 times while in office, according to The Washington Post.
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