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Congressman Nadler Joins Reps. Beyer, Lieu, Raskin and Welch in Leading 52 House Dems' Letter to White House: “Revoke Jared Kushner’s Security Clearance”

Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, joined Representatives Don Beyer (D-VA), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), and Peter Welch (D-VT) in sending a letter to White House Counsel Don McGahn demanding that the White House revoke the security clearance of Jared Kushner, Senior Adviser and son-in-law of President Trump.

“Recent revelations of Jared Kushner’s numerous contacts with Russian agents, contact that Mr. Kushner omitted from his security clearance review, are a troubling sign of this Administration’s continued refusal to be honest and transparent with the American people,” said Congressman Nadler. “Mr. Kushner’s security clearance should be immediately revoked. Anyone else, in any other Administration, would face severe discipline for failing to disclose meetings with foreign officials – a material omission which potentially amounts to a criminal offense. If the White House thinks it is above the law, they are sadly mistaken. We must get to the bottom of Russia’s subversion of our election, and having senior White House officials conceal information of previous contacts with Russian agents—or any foreign agent—as part of their clearance forms is absolutely unacceptable.”

Reps. Beyer, Lieu, Nadler, Raskin, and Welch previously wrote a letter seeking suspension of Mr. Kushner’s clearance pending review of his omitted meetings. Since that time, news reports have revealed that the meetings which Mr. Kushner omitted from his SF-86 form have become a subject of the FBI’s larger investigation of contacts between Russian officials and the Trump campaign.

The new letter released today is also signed by Reps. Hank Johnson (D-GA), Donald Payne Jr. (D-NJ), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Kathy Castor (D-FL), Paul Tonko (D-NY), Jim McGovern (D-MA), David Cicilline (D-RI), Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ), Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Brendan Boyle (D-PA), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Carol Shea-Porter (D-ME), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Norma Torres (D-CA), Katherine Clark (D-MA), Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NY), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Mike Doyle (D-PA), Nita Lowey (D-NY), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), David Scott (D-GA), Tim Ryan (D-OH), Tim Walz (D-MN), Adam Smith (D-WA), Danny Davis (D-IL), Frederica Wilson (D-FL), John Garamendi (D-CA), Sander Levin (D-MI), Anna Eshoo (D-CA),  Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Janice D. Schakowsky (D-IL), Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA),  Judy Chu (D-CA), Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Grace Meng (D-NY), John Delaney (D-MD), David Loebsack (D-IA), and Scott Peters (D-CA).

A signed copy of the letter, including cited references, is available here. The full text of the letter is below:


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

Dear Mr. McGahn:

Multiple press stories sourced to senior Administration and law enforcement officials report that Jared Kushner, a senior adviser and son-in-law to the president, is a subject of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) ongoing probe into possible collusion between Russian officials and the Trump campaign.

According to the reports, Mr. Kushner, along with former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak to discuss options for establishing a secret line of communication directly between the Trump transition team and the Kremlin. Not only was the purpose of the meeting concealed from the public, the meeting itself was omitted from both Mr. Kushner's and Mr. Flynn's FBI security clearance questionnaires. The Standard Form-86 (SF-86), mandatory for obtaining a security clearance, requires the disclosure of all foreign contacts. Knowingly falsifying or concealing information on a SF-86 questionnaire is a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.   

Given the severity of these allegations and prior revelations that Mr. Kushner omitted this meeting and dozens of other foreign contacts from his SF-86,  we are requesting that the White House immediately revoke Mr. Kushner's clearance pending the conclusion of the investigation.

Serious questions have previously been raised about Mr. Kushner's omitted meetings with Russian officials, meetings which occurred during a time when US intelligence delivered its assessment that the Russian government attempted to interfere in US elections. Subsequent news reports now tell the story of clandestine calls and meetings between Mr. Kushner and Russian officials during the campaign and transition, attempts to conceal those meetings from US intelligence and law enforcement, and Mr. Kushner's subsequent support for attempts to obstruct the investigation of Trump-Russia contacts, including his own. While the various congressional and law enforcement investigations continue, the White House should take all possible steps to protect national security including immediately revoking Mr. Kushner's security clearance.

Thank you for your consideration of this matter.

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