NATIONAL SECURITY/TRUMP PEOPLE: “One of the White House’s most important diplomats happens to be an artist — with a top secret security clearance.
That means the chief White House calligrapher now has greater access to sensitive information than White House adviser — and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law — Jared Kushner. Scrutiny over White House clearances in recent weeks has raised questions about top secret versus secret clearance, the application process and the levels of access afforded to those who achieve it.
Kushner was among those White House officials whose security clearance was downgraded from top secret to secret, a significant move cutting back on the information he can access… The calligrapher’s office plays a key role in White House diplomacy. The East Wing, which oversees the calligrapher’s office, declined to comment on the role of the chief calligrapher or why a top secret clearance is necessary.
But former chief calligrapher Rick Paulus, who served in the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations and had a top secret clearance himself, attributed the need for it due to the knowledge of the President’s schedule, as well as the calligrapher’s proximity to world leaders.”
-Betsy Klein, “The White House chief calligrapher has a higher clearance than Jared Kushner,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, Feb. 28, 2018 03:20pm