Report: Trump Seeking Top Secret Security Clearances For His Kids

Donald Trump, right, sits with, from left, Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump during a ground breaking ceremony for the Trump International Hotel on the site of the Old Post Office, on Wednesday, July 23,... Donald Trump, right, sits with, from left, Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump during a ground breaking ceremony for the Trump International Hotel on the site of the Old Post Office, on Wednesday, July 23, 2014, in Washington. (AP Photo) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

President-elect Donald Trump is looking into acquiring top secret security clearances for his adult children, according to a Monday report from CBS News.

Anonymous sources told CBS that his transition team has asked the White House to explore how this could be done. Once Trump becomes president, he will be able to put in the request to obtain top secret clearances for Ivanka, Eric and Donald Jr., who will need to fill out a security questionnaire and go through a set of background checks, CBS reported.

Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller told CNN that no official request has been made.

Given that Trump has said his eldest children will run the Trump Organization through a “blind trust” while he serves in the White House, providing them with access to the country’s most closely held national security information would raise serious possible conflicts of interest.

Last week, Ivanka, Eric and Donald Jr, as well as Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, were named to the President-elect’s transition team. They have maintained they will not take formal roles in their father’s administration, and a decades-old nepotism rule prohibit public officials from hiring or promoting relatives. Yet the central role Trump’s adult children has played in his
campaign and transition is already a striking break from precedent.

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: