House Democrats Ted Lieu of California and Don Beyer of Virginia referred White House adviser and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner for possible prosecution by the Department of Justice.
Lieu and Beyer asked Attorney General William Barr to investigate Kushner’s security clearance after it was reported that Trump overruled career intelligence officials to grant his son-in-law top-secret clearance.
"We are deeply disturbed by recent reports that President Trump ordered his Chief of Staff, John Kelly, to grant Jared Kushner a security clearance, overruling intelligence officials who raised concerns about the clear national security risks of doing so," Lieu and Beyer said in a letter to Barr on Monday.
"Taken together with previous reports that Mr. Kushner omitted contacts with more than one hundred foreign persons on his clearance forms – including the Russian Ambassador – we request that the Department of Justice open an immediate investigation to determine if Mr. Kushner is criminally liable for his false statements," the letter said.
White House refuses to turn over Kushner docs:
White House Counsel Pat Cipollone rejected a request by House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings for documents related to Kushner’s clearance, calling it “overly intrusive” and claiming that the committee had not "cited any legal authority" or provided a "constitutional or statutory basis" for its request.
"Although we are prepared to continue negotiations in good faith, the Committee seeks unilateral concessions without any offer of accommodation on its part, and then complains that the White House has refused to simply tum over everything the Committee inappropriately seeks," Cipollone wrote.
House Dems may subpoena Jared docs:
House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings said he may subpoena documents related to Kushner’s security clearance after the White House refused to turn them over.
"There is a key difference between a president who exercises his authority under the Constitution and a president who overrules career experts and his top advisers to benefit his family members and then conceals his actions from the American people," Cummings said in a statement.
"The White House’s argument defies the Constitutional separation of powers, decades of precedent before this Committee, and just plain common-sense," he added. "The White House security clearance system is broken, and it needs both congressional oversight and legislative reform. I will be consulting with Members of the Committee to determine our next steps.”
