2/26/2018

JOHN KELLY/NATIONAL SECURITY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP FAMILY/JARED KUSHNER: “President Donald Trump’s decision to punt the issue of whether Jared Kushner can keep his access to sensitive government secrets without a full security clearance to his chief of staff, John Kelly, has put him in a tricky position, stuck between the rules on one side and the president’s family on the other.
Trump’s ad hoc decision not to intervene in the clearance process on behalf of his son-in-law and senior adviser in effect left Kelly and Kushner in limbo, prolonging an uncomfortable situation that White House aides say is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon.
Kelly does not plan to recommend to the president that he grant Kushner a waiver, but he is unlikely to resign if Trump ultimately decides to do so, according to a person familiar with his thinking… The president is hesitant to intervene in the process due to the potential blowback he would suffer in the news media if he were to give Kushner a pass, according to one White House aide, and on Friday, he officially passed the baton to Kelly… The issues surrounding Kushner’s security clearance ratcheted up when Kelly learned in the fall that the White House security officer was unlikely to green light a permanent security clearance for Kushner any time soon as a result of information received from the FBI.”

-Eliana Johnson, “Kelly and Kushner stuck at an impasse after Trump’s punt on clearance,” Politico, Feb. 26, 2018 05:00am