Donald and Ivanka Trump 'repeatedly gave false statements about Jared Kushner’s security clearance'

The president and his daughter appear to have lied on multiple occasions about the White House security clearance process

Ivanka Trump and the president appear to have lied about the process that took place for her and her husband Jared Kushner to obtain high-level security clearances while working in the White House, after it was reported that former Chief of Staff John Kelly was ordered to get top-secret access for Mr Kushner last year.

Those orders came directly from the president, the Washington Post said, despite opposition from career intelligence officials and the chief of staff himself, who reportedly expressed his concerns in private and documented Mr Trump’s demands in a memo. Donald McGahn, who previously served as White House counsel, also wrote a memo describing the same situation, according to the New York Times.

Despite his obscure foreign investments and financial dealings — which experts say would bar anyone from receiving even a low-level security clearance — Mr Kushner still managed to obtain access to some of the nation’s top secrets, reportedly thanks to an order made by Mr Trump. The president has final authority in determining who obtain security clearances, even if their decision flies in the face of national security concerns.

There are at least nine occasions in which the Trump family appeared to provide false statements surrounding Mr Kushner and Ms Trump’s security clearance process, reflecting an unprecedented effort by the president to hire his family in a White House administration and later cover up behind-the-scenes actions he took while disregarding the advice of his own intelligence community.

Despite reportedly having “pressured the president to grant Kushner the long-delayed clearance,” according to the Washington Post, Ms Trump said in an interview with ABC News’ Abby Huntsman last month, “the president had no involvement pertaining to my clearance or my husband’s clearance.”

“Zero,” she added, stressing her father’s apparent lack of interference with Mr Kushner’s security clearance process.

And even though it was reported Mr Kushner eventually received his security clearance in May of last year, the president apparently made false statements about the matter in an interview with New York Times’ Maggie Haberman in January of this year.

“Did you tell General Kelly or anyone else in the White House to overrule security officials?” she asked the president.

“No,” he replied. “I don’t think I have the authority to do that. I’m not sure I do.”

“You do have the authority to do it,” she responded.

“But I wouldn’t,” Mr Trump said. “I wouldn’t do it.”

He went on to claim “I was never involved with the security,” adding, “I just, I never thought it was necessary.”

Mr Trump later acknowledged he did, in fact, have the authority to grant Mr Kushner — or anyone, for that matter — a security clearance, saying, “Uh, I have the right to do it, but I never thought it was necessary, Maggie. I never thought it was necessary.”

A spokesperson for Mr Kushner’s attorney Abbe Lowell refuted the New York Times report in a statement, saying, “In 2018, White House and security clearance officials affirmed that Mr. Kushner’s security clearance was handled in the regular process with no pressure from anyone. That was conveyed to the media at the time, and new stories, if accurate, do not change what was affirmed at the time.”

The Democratic-controlled House Oversight Committee has launched an investigation into how Mr Kushner and others were able to obtain security clearances under Mr Trump, with top Democrat Elijah Cummings requesting relevant documents from Mr Kushner.