Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President Trump and one of his most important advisors, has his security clearance after more than a year. This authorisation is necessary to gain access to state secret information and is only obtained after a person’s background has been thoroughly reviewed by the FBI, says City News Journal.
Kushner is responsible for the peace process in the Middle East and, like many others in the White House, worked with a temporary authorisation. In February, the rules were tightened. In anticipation of completing his antecedents investigation, he lost access to, among other things, the daily, top secret safety briefings of the American intelligence services.
After that, there was plenty of speculation about whether Kushner posed a safety risk, partly because the special prosecutor and former FBI CEO Robert Mueller were also interested in the contacts between Kushner and high-ranking Russians. Mueller examines whether members of Trump’s campaign team worked with the Kremlin to influence the outcome of the US presidential election. Kushner initially forgot to report any contacts with foreign connections, including three high-ranking Russians, when applying for a security clearance.
The fact that Kushner now gets a permanent authorisation, according to American media, indicates that he is probably no longer in the sight of Mueller. According to security experts, it is unlikely that someone suspected of a crime will receive a permanent authorisation giving access to the biggest secrets of the US.
Kushner spoke for hours with researchers from Mueller for the second time last month. According to Kushner’s lawyer, this included meetings with foreign representatives in the period between the November 2016 elections and the inauguration of Trump in January last year. President Trump also discussed the dismissal of FBI director James Comey.