Donald Trump meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergei Kislyak at the White House in 2017.via Associated PressWASHINGTON — Facing multiple criminal prosecutions and over a half billion dollars in civil judgments, private citizen Donald Trump would almost certainly be denied even the lowest level security clearance, were he to apply.If he wins the November presidential election, though, he would immediately regain access to the nation’s most sensitive secrets — his financial and legal woes notwithstanding.Advertisement
“Anyone who would grant Donald Trump a security clearance ought to have his or her clearance revoked,” said George Conway, a conservative lawyer and prominent Trump critic.Such is the paradox of U.S. intelligence protocols: A person needing access to diplomatic or military secrets must undergo a rigorous background investigation into personal finances and behavior that can take upwards of a year to complete. Unless that person is elected president, in which case all of that screening goes right out the window.The will of a majority of the voters overrules whatever objections intelligence community professionals might have, and a president has lawful access to every classified, secret or top-secret piece of information the nation possesses.This would be true even for Trump, who is currently being prosecuted for his refusal to turn over secret documents he took with him to his South Florida country club after leaving the White House. Among the charges against him are alleged violations of the Espionage Act.Advertisement
“If he’s president, he’s got full on access to whatever he wants,” said Ty Cobb, a lawyer who worked in Trump’s White House. “There’s no legal way to prevent it.”Indeed, of the nine factors that the U.S. government says are evaluated during a security clearance investigation — drug involvement, criminal conduct, financial considerations, use of information technology systems, United States allegiance, foreign influence, alcohol consumption, psychological conditions and personal behavior and handling protected information — Trump would likely have problems with five of them, a majority. The United States already underwent a version of this in 2016. Trump had had multiple bankruptcies, had done business with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp in a hotel deal in Azerbaijan, and had been pursuing a high-rise project in Moscow right through the presidential campaign.“He would have had a tough time getting a security clearance in 2016. Between his checkered financial history, his infamous ‘Russia, if you’re listening’ comment, [and] his associates’ dubio …
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“Anyone who would grant Donald Trump a security clearance ought to have his or her clearance revoked,” said George Conway, a conservative lawyer and prominent Trump critic.Such is the paradox of U.S. intelligence protocols: A person needing access to diplomatic or military secrets must undergo a rigorous background investigation into personal finances and behavior that can take upwards of a year to complete. Unless that person is elected president, in which case all of that screening goes right out the window.The will of a majority of the voters overrules whatever objections intelligence community professionals might have, and a president has lawful access to every classified, secret or top-secret piece of information the nation possesses.This would be true even for Trump, who is currently being prosecuted for his refusal to turn over secret documents he took with him to his South Florida country club after leaving the White House. Among the charges against him are alleged violations of the Espionage Act.Advertisement
“If he’s president, he’s got full on access to whatever he wants,” said Ty Cobb, a lawyer who worked in Trump’s White House. “There’s no legal way to prevent it.”Indeed, of the nine factors that the U.S. government says are evaluated during a security clearance investigation — drug involvement, criminal conduct, financial considerations, use of information technology systems, United States allegiance, foreign influence, alcohol consumption, psychological conditions and personal behavior and handling protected information — Trump would likely have problems with five of them, a majority. The United States already underwent a version of this in 2016. Trump had had multiple bankruptcies, had done business with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp in a hotel deal in Azerbaijan, and had been pursuing a high-rise project in Moscow right through the presidential campaign.“He would have had a tough time getting a security clearance in 2016. Between his checkered financial history, his infamous ‘Russia, if you’re listening’ comment, [and] his associates’ dubio …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]