Richard Painter, the ethics lawyer for the President George W. Bush administration, weighed in on the status of White House adviser Jared Kushner’s security clearance on Twitter, saying if the White House doesn’t revoke it, they might as well “give one to Vladimir Putin himself.”
Jared Kushner's security clearance should be revoked. If not, we should just throw in the towel and give one to Vladimir Putin himself
— Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) July 16, 2017
The tweet comes as the President’s son-in-law faces increased scrutiny after updating the disclosure portion of his security clearance application, revealing names of 100 foreign officials he’s met with that weren’t previously disclosed.
That includes a meeting Kushner had with Donald Trump Jr., a Kremlin-linked lawyer, a former Soviet Union counterintelligence officer and others after Trump Jr. was promised incriminating information about Hillary Clinton as part of an effort by the Russian government to help President Donald Trump’s campaign.
It’s not the first time the Bush-era attorney has weighed in on developments related to the Trump administration’s dealings with Russia.
Painter has been particularly critical of the Trump Jr. meeting, tweeting about comments Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow made over the weekend, blaming the Secret Service for not preventing the President’s son from meeting with the Russian lawyer.
Sekulow takes his client to a new low if he blames the Secret Service. It wasn't their job to keep Don Jr. from meeting with Russian agents.
— Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) July 16, 2017
