Vox Sentences: Kushner's security secrets

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The clearance level of Jared Kushner raises issues; The Prime Minister of Canada faces an untimely accusation.

Trump would have given the green light to his son-in-law


President Trump Holds Roundtable with Hispanic Pastors in Roosevelt Hall of the White House

Alex Wong / Getty Images

  • Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President Trump, has been granted a highly secretive security clearance despite the objections of top White House officials because the president himself ordered it, according to a report released Thursday by the New York Times. [NYT / Maggie Haberman, Michael S. Schmidt, Adam Goldman, and Annie Karni]
  • Trump has the "absolute right" to grant security clearances, according to a response from White House advisor Kellyanne Conway on Friday – and she's right. However, it is a problem if Trump refuses White House recommendations and gives permission anyway. Conway did not reveal whether she knew if Trump had ordered the best clearance for Kushner. [The Hill / Jordan Fabian]
  • The House Oversight Committee opened a licensing inquiry in January. Following this week's report, commission chair Elijah Cummings announced on Friday that he wanted to deepen the issue. The White House has not started discussions with the committee on this issue, nor has it made available documents refuting information on its licensing practices. [NPR / Philip Ewing]
  • Kushner had a "very secretive" provisional authorization that was demoted to the "secret" level in February 2018. His initial authorization was delayed when the FBI and the CIA interrogated Kushner's commercial contacts in foreign countries, including Israel and the United States. Russia. He also apparently did not disclose meetings with foreign actors. Kushner met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week. [Vanity Fair / Bess Levin]
  • President Trump and Ivanka Trump both defended Kushner, who traveled from country to country to forge a peace plan for the Middle East. When meeting senior officials abroad, their potentially highly secure authorization is important. We do not know how far he can negotiate with the secrets of America. [NYMag / Frank Rich]

Trudeau denies turning a lawsuit into a political issue

  • Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denied accusations that he had intervened in a court case – just eight months before the national elections. The former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Trudeau, Jody Wilson-Raybould, said Thursday that the Prime Minister and her colleagues had pushed her not to sue a large employer in Quebec. [WSJ / Paul Vieira and Kim Mackrael]
  • Trudeau's political opponents also issued a letter Thursday calling for an inquiry and the resignation of the prime minister. That was a day after Wilson-Raybould testified that she was suing the construction company SNC-Lavalin for bribery when Trudeau lobbied her to enter into a plea agreement with the company, a employer from his hometown. [Politico / Alexander Panetta]
  • Wilson-Raybould provided notes of phone calls and meetings in which Trudeau and her associates tried to convince her that pursuing the company would threaten jobs in Canada – as well as significant votes. SNC-Lavalin is alleged to have been charged with $ 36 million in bribes it would have offered to Libyan officials. [BBC]
  • In addition, China is using the SNC-Lavalin case to discuss Canada's arrest of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of mobile telecommunications giant Huawei. Trudeau claims that Wanzhou was arrested under an extradition treaty with the United States and that his country will not interfere in this case. On Friday, a spokesman for the Chinese Communist Party was asked whether it was hypocritical for Trudeau to interfere with the SNC-Lavalin affair, but denied he had participated in the Huawei case. The spokesperson replied that the focus was on the precedent that Canada would create. [Washington Post / Emily Rauhala]
  • Trudeau's Prime Minister is now facing a difficult future. Wilson-Raybould was demoted following the situation at SNC-Lavalin and subsequently left the firm. Trudeau admitted to having asked the former GA to protect the company, but added that he was not pressuring her. The opposition could call for early elections before October 2019. [Politico / Alexander Panetta]

Various

  • Washington governor Jay Inslee joined the Democratic presidential melee of 2020. Inslee is a well-known climate activist whose platform promises job creation by strengthening the use of renewable energy by the US. United. He congratulates the Green New Deal. [NYT / Kirk Johnson]
  • America First Action is a Super PAC that lacks the leadership needed to raise the $ 1 trump that Trump wants for its 2020 presidential campaign. ACA needs a senior executive close to Trump's leadership and GOP – a hard-to-fill position. [Politico / Alex Isenstadt and Gabby Orr]
  • With $ 2.16 billion in revenue, Lyft is experiencing significant growth and expense, according to the company's IPO files that were released Friday. Lyft should start trading at the end of the month. [WSJ / Maureen Farrell]
  • Research shows that violent crime is highly concentrated in small urban areas and is committed by a very small number of people – so why are whole neighborhoods still described as "dangerous"? [CityLab / Stephen Lurie]
  • Time for some HERSTORY. March 1 marks the beginning of Women's History Month. So take the time to dispel the myths about women's history, from the first use of contraception to the declared incineration of bras. [NYT / Maya Salam]

verbatim

"You come saying that I've made my mistakes, but now I want to change my life. And you know, if our country, as a nation, did not give people the opportunity, after making mistakes, to change their lives, a lot of people would not be doing very well. " [House Oversight Committee Chair Elijah Cummings to Michael Cohen]

Look at this: the first filmed aviation disaster

In 1937, a routine press photo recorded the recording of the explosion of the largest airship ever built. [YouTube / Coleman Lowndes]

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