Accessibility links

Breaking News

White House Tightens Security Clearance Procedures After Abuse Allegations


FILE - White House staff secretary Rob Porter, right, walks with White House Chief of Staff John Kelly to board Marine One on the South Lawn as they leave the White House in Washington, Feb. 2, 2018.
FILE - White House staff secretary Rob Porter, right, walks with White House Chief of Staff John Kelly to board Marine One on the South Lawn as they leave the White House in Washington, Feb. 2, 2018.

White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, under pressure to act, strengthened the process for security clearances for President Donald Trump's aides on Friday in response to a scandal involving a former official accused of domestic abuse by two ex-wives.

Saying that recent events had exposed some "shortcomings," Kelly decreed that any interim security clearances for staffers whose background investigations have been pending since June 1 or before would be discontinued in a week.

The aim is to avoid a repeat of the case of former White House staff secretary Rob Porter, who worked for Trump for a year under a temporary clearance despite red flags raised by his government background check but not widely known.

Chief of Staff John Kelly has proposed changes to the White House security clearance process.
Chief of Staff John Kelly has proposed changes to the White House security clearance process.

Kelly has been under fire from some in the West Wing for his handling of the Porter case, and Trump confidants say the president has been sounding out his friends on possible replacements.

Dozens of officials, including Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are working under temporary clearances in the absence of final security clearance.

A new background system will also establish a process for updating senior officials on the end of a background investigation, Kelly said.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said earlier this week that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had completed its background investigation of Porter in July and submitted the findings to the White House.

The White House has yet to outline a clear timeline on who knew what and when about Porter's past, which includes accusations by his two former wives of domestic abuse.

  • 16x9 Image

    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

XS
SM
MD
LG