DNC on Kushner’s Meeting With Senate Investigators

In response to Jared Kushner’s prepared statement to Congressional investigators, DNC deputy communications director Adrienne Watson released the following statement:

“Once again, the Trump team is laughably trying to redefine ‘transparency’ as disclosing information after you have been caught lying.  Jared Kushner’s repeated failures to accurately report his Russia contacts would get most federal employees whose father-in-laws aren’t the President stripped of their security clearances and shown the door.  Kushner’s clearance should be denied and he should lose his job.”     

Politico: People Familiar With The Clearance Process Say “Kushner’s Actions Would Be More Than Enough To Cost Most Federal Employees Their Security Clearances.”  “Kushner’s actions — including initially failing to disclose meetings with Russian officials — would be more than enough to cost most federal employees their security clearances, according to people familiar with the security-clearance process.   ‘They would lose their job immediately,’ said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight. ‘Their clearance would be gone.’” [Politico, 7/16/17]

Richard W. Painter: “Jared Kushner's Security Clearance Should Be Revoked. If Not, We Should Just Throw In The Towel And Give One To Vladimir Putin Himself.” [@RWPUSA, Twitter, 7/16/2017]

David Frum: “Why Is Jared Kushner Still A Government Employee With A Security Clearance?” [@davidfrum, Twitter, 7/11/2017]

Richard Burr On Jared Kushner’s Security Clearance: “He’s Had Three Attempts, I’m Not Sure How Many He Gets.” “BURR to me on Kushner security clearance. ‘He's had three attempts, I'm not sure how many he gets. But right now, they're fairly accurate.’” [@mkraju, Twitter, 7/17/2017]

Former CIA Officer Ned Price: Kushner Retaining His Security Clearance “Is An Affront To America’s National Security And A Slap In The Face To The Career Professionals Subject To A Different Set Of Rules.” “But the latest revelations undeniably have raised additional questions about the judgment of key figures in President Trump’s orbit, namely his eldest son Donald Jr., his former campaign manager Paul Manafort, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner. Only Kushner, however, holds an administration position and, as a result, a Top Secret security clearance. The fact that Kushner, by all accounts, retains that clearance is an affront to America’s national security and a slap in the face to the career professionals subject to a different set of rules. I know this because, as a career CIA officer and later a spokesman for the National Security Council, I used to be one of them.” [Ned Price, Politico Magazine, 7/14/2017]

  • Price On Jared Kushner: “If He Weren’t The President’s Son In Law, He’d Have Been Frogmarched Out Of The White House Long Ago.” “These are the facts: Jared Kushner held suspicious meetings with Russians officials and operatives that he failed to disclose when he applied for a security clearance. If he weren’t the president’s son in law, he’d have been frogmarched out of the White House long ago. Why does he still have access to America’s biggest secrets?” [Ned Price, Politico Magazine, 7/14/2017]

Harvard Law School Professor Laurence Tribe: Jared Kushner’s Security Clearance “Certainly Ought To Be Revoked.” “Laurence Tribe, a professor at Harvard law school, wrote in an email: ‘Jared Kushner’s failure to disclose that memorable (and probably unlawful) June 2016 meeting with a Russian attorney is itself a serious and independent crime under 18 USC section 1001 punishable by five years in prison, and it would no doubt justify revocation of his security clearance. ‘If it is not revoked, the reason can only be that his father-in-law is President Trump. But that is no reason at all in a republic rather than a hereditary monarchy and under a constitution that bars titles of nobility. So I’d say his security clearance certainly ought to be revoked.’” [The Guardian, 7/12/2017]