Kelly on the Hot Seat; Porter is Gone;
Kushner’s Security Clearance
Still Not Completed
Security clearances and background investigations on the front burner
and rightly so here from CBS News:
Highlights: Neither the White House nor the FBI is taking
responsibility in the backlog of more than 700,000 security clearances. One
investigator told CBS News that the White House security clearance process “is
the peak of what the problem is throughout the government.”
I
note – keep this key point in mind: Recently (this week
actually), the White House blamed delays in the security clearance process on
the FBI, but in another sign of the
strain between the bureau and the White House, the FBI responded in a
statement that they only conduct background
checks – they don't grant security clearances.
Nearly 13 months into the Trump administration, more than a dozen top
officials are working with an interim security clearance – among them Jared
Kushner.
Some officials in the Clinton administration relied on interim
clearances, but that it's unusual for so many officials to not have full
security clearances at this point. To have someone with an interim
security clearance for over a year seems very excessive. It sort of defeats the
purpose of having a security clearance process in the first place.
Within FBI headquarters there is a special unit called
SPIN or Special Inquiries. It handles White House security clearances, which are
designed to be expedited in about 45 days.
Once the FBI completes
its investigation, its findings are handed over to the White House, which has
discretion in deciding whether to approve a full security clearance.
Finally: The real question is how can anyone in the W/H like a
Rob Porter or Jared Kushner be doing their jobs without a total and complete security
clearance for such a long period of time – in short: What is preventing
complete and total clearance and then proper access – or more bluntly was is
hidden or what the FBI’s attention this long?
True, we need to make sure that
they aren't working for foreign government, and that they are upright and
honest people susceptible to any kind of blackmail and that is why the security
clearance process is essential -- especially for the White House.
CBS was told
that the FBI first turned over Rob Porter's background check information to the
White House at least eight months before his resignation. That is alarming –
was it complete with the wife abuse materials, etc. If so, how did he stay on
the job so long?
My
2 Cents: Someone must be held to account and especially in view
of the Trump outrage about Hillary Clinton and her private email server at her
home while she was SOS and the claim that some classified materials were sent
to her over that server.
But, Mrs. Clinton had at the minimum a “secret
clearance” and access but more probably she had a “top secret clearance” while
serving as the Secretary of State. So the Trump silly rant on that point since
she was cleared by the FBI who checked into the rightwing hype vs. what which
we see now with so many close to sensitive information for so long and only
with an “interim clearance” sure raises eyebrows and questions and rightly so.
Hopefully those with derogatory information the FBI knew allowing Rob Porter to
stay so long in that category keep the scrutiny spotlight red hot.
What we do not need is find out down the road that
anyone of those with such interim clearances end up being like a few modern-day
Aldrich Ames, or Robert Hanssen, or John Walker, or Edward Snowden types – all
traitors to the country in various ways with national secrets.
Apparently no one seems to be taking this issue very
seriously and they should otherwise they are derelict in their duties re: classified information.
Thanks for stopping by.
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