USA

Trump Adviser Kushner Gets Permanent Security Clearance

FILE - White House senior adviser Jared Kushner listens as President Donald Trump answers reporters' questions at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., Aug. 11, 2017.

Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, finally has a permanent security clearance.

A background check of Kushner run by the FBI took more than a year to clear. Kushner had been working under an interim clearance, but it was revoked in February during procedural changes in the White House.

The New York Times was the first to report on Kushner's permanent clearance.

The White House had blamed the delay on administrative backlogs that normally plague new administrations.

Kushner also was questioned twice by special counsel Robert Mueller's team, including one session in April when he underwent seven hours of questioning, Kushner's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said.

Lowell said Kushner answered all questions and "is looking forward to continuing the work the president has asked him to do.''

Kushner was first interviewed in November, when the focus was mainly on former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty of lying to the FBI.