Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Jared Kushner to have White House security clearance restored after being questioned by Robert Mueller

Mr Kushner had previously been granted limited clearance while the FBI conducted a background check

Clark Mindock
New York
Wednesday 23 May 2018 22:00 BST
Comments
Mr Kushner's security clearance was altered in February
Mr Kushner's security clearance was altered in February (Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner is set to regain his top security clearance after going through a lengthy interview last month with special counsel investigators.

Mr Kushner, who is also President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, met with investigators from the Justice Department for seven or eight hours in what was his second interview related to the investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election and contacts between Trump officials and Russians.

During that interviews, the investigators and Mr Kushner reportedly touched on a large variety of topics, including Mr Trump’s decision to fire former FBI Director James Comey, according to media reports.

The background check related to Mr Kushner, his financial history, and his foreign contacts took longer than a year and had become a source of uncertainty for the White House.

“With respect to the news about his clearances, as we stated before, his application was properly submitted, reviews by numerous career officials and underwent the normal process. Having completed all of these processes, he’s looking forward to continuing to do the work the president has asked him to do,” Abbe Lowell, Mr Kushner’s personal attorney, said in a statement provided to The Washington Post.

The statement also indicated that Mr Kushner had been voluntarily cooperating with the special counsel investigation.

Individuals in Mr Trump’s orbit say that Mr Kushner does not have any knowledge of any potential collusion between the Russian government and the Trump team.

“They can spend all the time they want with Jared. He’s got no knowledge of Russian collusion of any kind,” Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for Mr Trump, said in an interview with NPR.

Mr Kushner’s clearance was initially downgraded in February as the White House attempted to impose stricter requirements for security clearances in the wake of the resignation of former staff secretary Rob Porter.

When Mr Porter resigned, it emerged that several others with sensitive jobs in the White House had been working with only tentative clearances.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in