CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin ripped President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, saying the only reason he is working in the White House is that he is in the “lucky sperm club.”
“Isn’t the problem nepotism? That’s really what this is all about. Jared Kushner is not qualified for the job he’s doing. His only qualification is that he’s the president’s son-in-law. He’s a modestly successful real-estate developer of his father’s company, a lucky sperm club,” Toobin told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Tuesday.
{mosads}The New York Times reported Tuesday that Kushner is resisting giving up his high-level access to classified information in the White House as chief of staff John Kelly works to address questions about the administration’s security clearance process.
“This is why presidents shouldn’t appoint close relatives to be their top advisers because they can’t be treated like everyone else,” Toobin said.
“He shouldn’t have this job in the first place, and who knows if he should have a security clearance. It’s absurd that it hasn’t been resolved one way or another,” he said.
Kelly is moving to take action after facing criticism for allowing former staff secretary Rob Porter to keep his security clearance despite facing domestic abuse allegations from two ex-wives.
The chief of staff expressed his “full confidence” in Kushner in a statement on Tuesday.
“As I told Jared days ago, I have full confidence in his ability to continue performing his duties in his foreign policy portfolio including overseeing our Israeli-Palestinian peace effort and serving as an integral part of our relationship with Mexico,” Kelly said.