Press Releases

Today, Reps. Ted W. Lieu (D | Los Angeles County) and Don Beyer (D-VA) sent a letter to White House Counsel Don McGahn calling on him to immediately revoke the security clearances of White House officials Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. The appeal comes after multiple reports demonstrating Ms. Trump and Mr. Kushner’s brazen disregard for ethics and their apparent intention to skirt good governance rules.

Reports showed their flagrant hypocrisy, having used private emails to hide their correspondence from investigators. They also repeatedly missed deadlines for reporting financial assets to the Office of Government Ethics. Beyond that, Ms. Trump was reportedly close to being indicted for real estate fraud in 2012 but avoided prosecution thanks to a dubious meeting between Donald Trump’s lawyer and the New York District Attorney. This behavior makes them unfit to hold security clearances.

In the letter, Mr. Lieu and Mr. Beyer write:

“These new revelations, along with the ongoing White House probe of Ms. Trump’s private email use, have compromised Ms. Trump’s integrity and credibility. We are requesting that the White House immediately revoke her security clearance pending an investigation into her actions…

…Finally, in June we requested the removal of Mr. Kushner’s security clearance based upon the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s probe into Mr. Kushner’s communications with Russian officials, but have seen no action on this matter. In light of the recent developments relating to both Mr. Kushner’s e-mail accounts and his financial disclosure statements, we would like to reiterate our request that you immediately revoke his security clearance.”

Text of the letter follows, and a signed copy is available here.

The Honorable Don McGahn
Counsel to the President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. McGahn:

Recent press investigations highlight severe credibility issues with Ivanka Trump, a White House official, close advisor, and daughter to the President.  Reports indicate that Ms. Trump used at least two, and possibly three, private email accounts for official White House business.[1] Under scrutiny from investigators, Ms. Trump and her husband Jared Kushner then re-routed their email accounts to Trump Organization computers in an apparent attempt to hide their emails.[2]  The White House is conducting an investigation into the disturbing actions of Ms. Trump, Mr. Kushner, and others.[3]

Further, new press reports have also revealed that Mr. Kushner and Ms. Trump were both fined for missing their deadlines to submit financial disclosure reports (OGE 278-T forms) required by the Office of Government Ethics.[4] This was in fact Mr. Kushner’s second time being fined for tardiness in disclosing his assets. Most concerning, Mr. Kushner and Ms. Trump’s financial disclosures contained significant discrepancies between their joint assets – some values listed are hundreds of thousands of dollars apart. Notably, the OGE 278-T form’s instructions explicitly state that any knowing and willful falsification of information required may subject the reporting party to criminal prosecution.

In addition to possibly violating federal laws and regulations, according to recent press, Ms. Trump was nearly indicted for real estate fraud related to the Trump SoHo in 2012.[5] These reports state that prosecutors at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office were set to indict Ms. Trump until the District Attorney overruled them following a meeting with Donald Trump’s attorney.

These new revelations, along with the ongoing White House probe of Ms. Trump’s private email use, have compromised Ms. Trump’s integrity and credibility. We are requesting that the White House immediately revoke her security clearance pending an investigation into her actions.

Finally, in June we requested the removal of Mr. Kushner’s security clearance based upon the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s probe into Mr. Kushner’s communications with Russian officials, but have seen no action on this matter.[6]  In light of the recent developments relating to both Mr. Kushner’s e-mail accounts and his financial disclosure statements, we would like to reiterate our request that you immediately revoke his security clearance.

Thank you for your attention to this critical matter.

Sincerely, 

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