Three Dem senators call for ‘immediate review’ of Kushner’s security clearance

Three Democratic senators are calling for an “immediate review” of White House senior adviser Jared Kushner’s security clearance, noting concerns over which contacts Kushner included on his clearance forms.

In a letter to the director of White House management and Office of Administration, Sens. Al Franken (D-Minn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) wrote that Kushner’s clearance should be suspended while it is under review.

“Such ongoing disclosures raise serious questions concerning Mr. Kushner’s suitability for continued access to classified information,” the senators wrote, referring to reports that Kushner omitted some meetings with Russian nationals from his security clearance form.

{mosads}“Given Mr. Kushner’s pattern of delay in reporting contacts, we are deeply concerned that he may not have disclosed additional contacts with foreign individuals or had other inappropriate Russian contacts.”

The letter from the three Democrats, all members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is the latest in a series of calls to revoke or review Kushner’s clearance.

Kushner, who is also the president’s son-in-law, has also been under scrutiny for attending a July 2016 meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya. 

The controversial meeting, which Donald Trump Jr. helped arrange after being promised harmful information about Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, has garnered condemnation from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers and adds a new wrinkle to the probe into Russia’s election meddling.

“Given the enormity of the outstanding national security concerns regarding his conduct, Mr. Kushner should not retain access to our nation’s most critical secrets,” the senators wrote in the letter, which is dated July 13.

The letter cites Kushner’s meeting with Veselnitskaya, in addition to a meeting he reportedly had with Russian banker Sergey Gorkov.

“We remain concerned by earlier reports — discussed in our June 21, 2017, request — about Mr. Kushner’s contacts with other Russian officials that he did not disclose when he applied for a security clearance,” the letter reads.

“We are also troubled by the revelation that Mr. Kushner sought to establish a secretive communications channel to the Russian government using Russian diplomatic facilities during the presidential transition. It is still unclear whether he notified background investigators about this.”