The security clearance of President Donald Trump's senior advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner was indefinitely downgraded from "top secret/sensitive compartmented information" to “secret” after he didn't pass the FBI's background check.
The lower level “secret” clearance grants access to far less sensitive information and prevents Kushner m who has been tasked by the White House with handling a variety of issues from Middle East piece to modernizing government - from accessing the Presidential Daily Brief.
Kushner and other White House officials that had been operating on interim clearances, had their access altered last week after chief of staff John Kelly stipulated new changes to the security clearance system, according to a memo obtained by Politico, many of which were also downgraded from "top secret/sensitive compartmented information" to “secret.”
Kushner's attorney Abbe Lowell said the move won't affect the advisors work.
“No concerns were raised about Mr. Kushner's application,” Lowell wrote in a statement. “As General Kelly himself said, the new clearance policy will not affect Mr. Kushner's ability to continue to do the very important work he has been assigned by the President."
But foreign officials from the United Arab Emriates, China, Israel and Mexico, privately discussed how their nations could benefit from Kushner's international business dealings and lack of government experience, according to the Washington Post. Furthermore, their are concerns in the White House that Kushner was "naive and being tricked" in his conversations with foreign officials, the publication said.
It is unclear how long the downgrade will last but the FBI is expected to wrap up Kushner's background check within a month after which their findings will be given to the White House for the final decision, a source told CNN.