Jared Kushner Gets Permanent Security Clearance

Jared Kushner, who has had to update his financial disclosure forms dozens of times because of his failure to fill them out correctly in accordance with federal law — and whose error-riddled and evasive disclosure forms prompted CREW spokesperson Jordan Libowitz to tell Newsweek that it is "mind-boggling how someone can have that many errors and that many amendments and keep their job" — has just been granted the permanent security clearance which has eluded him for more than a year of service in the White House.

Jared Kushner, [Donald] Trump's son-in-law and adviser, has been granted his permanent security clearance, a person briefed on the matter said on Wednesday, ending a period of uncertainty that had fueled questions about whether Mr. Kushner was in peril in the special counsel investigation.

Mr. Kushner's F.B.I. background checks had dragged on for a year. White House officials were adamant that the lengthy process was not unusual for a government official who has a complicated financial history and many foreign contacts. But the delay became a distraction and, with the special counsel investigating some of Mr. Kushner's meetings with Russian officials, it left open the question of whether investigators had uncovered evidence that made him a security threat.

Not good. Not good at all.

Earlier this month, I wrote: "Something I and others, including and especially my friend Sarah Kendzior, have noted is that Jared Kushner is a litmus test both for how effectively the nation's checks and balances are keeping kleptocracy at bay and also for the urgency and efficacy of Mueller's investigation. As long as Kushner, who has demonstrably broken federal law by lying on disclosure forms, retains a job in the White House, we should all be very concerned about the potential for meaningful accountability, from any source."

Welp.

I have seen people positing that perhaps Kushner is cooperating with Mueller. That is extraordinarily unlikely.

If Kushner had been busted on crimes so serious that his best option is to cooperate with Mueller, it's improbable that he'd still be given a top secret security clearance. Security clearances aren't granted for appearances' sake, particularly not when it would require top-level intelligence operatives to somehow secretly babysit 24/7 the person to whom they were issued to make sure he's not using that access to collude with a foreign adversary.

The fact is, this a very bad sign. There's no sugarcoating it, I'm afraid.

Kushner getting his security clearance, despite brazen violations of federal law and investigation for collusion and corruption, is profoundly discouraging. To put it mildly.