Jared Kushner Has Security Clearance Downgraded With Background Check Ongoing
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WASHINGTON (CBSMiami) – President Trump's son-in-law and White House Senior Adviser, Jared Kushner, will no longer be able to access top-secret material.
White House Chief of Staff John Kelly reduced Kushner's temporary security clerance along with about three dozen other administration officials whose background checks are still under review.
The White House insists Jared Kushner will still be able to do his job despite having his temporary "top secret" security clearance downgraded to "secret."
"He's a valued member of the team and he'll continue to do the important work he's been doing since he started in the administration," said White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders.
Chief Of Staff John Kelly downgraded the clearance for Kushner and about three dozen other administration officials because their backgrounds are still under investigation.
Kushner's downgrade means he cannot read top secret documents, but others with top security clearance can summarize them for him.
He will also be denied access to certain national security council meetings and top secret policy deliberations.
The president is expected to keep Kushner as his point man on key foreign policy issues such as peace talks in the Middle East and trade talks with China and Mexico.
"Jared's right in the middle of that and he's an extraordinary deal maker," Trump said of Kushner last week.
But some officials in the White House are concerned that Kushner was naive or even being tricked in conversations with foreign officials.
Some foreign officials insisted on reaching out directly to Kushner or his wife Ivanka.
But his supporters say Kushner has more than held his own during the high-level talks.
Officials say the concerns over Kushner's conversations with foreign officials is not the reason for the holdup in the FBI's background investigation.