More than 100 White House staffers were working with a temporary security clearance as late as November 2017, according to a new report.
CNN reports that numerous top officials in President Trump’s White House, including daughter and senior adviser Ivanka Trump, son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner and former staff secretary Rob Porter were three of more than 100 White House staffers that still had an interim security clearance in November, a year after Trump’s election.
The network reports that at least 24 of the staffers who possessed interim security clearances began working on the first day of the Trump administration in January 2017.
{mosads}Those officials include a special assistant to Trump on national security affairs and the senior director for international cybersecurity on the National Security Council, according to CNN.
It’s unclear which, if any, of the staffers have obtained full clearances since November, according to the government information obtained by CNN. It’s also unclear why those staffers faced a delay in obtaining permanent security clearances.
The information obtained by CNN also shows several top aides to Trump, including counselor Kellyanne Conway, communications director Hope Hicks, adviser Stephen Miller and chief economic adviser Gary Cohn all received permanent security clearances by November.
Politico reported Tuesday that the White House banned new interim security clearances late last year, but allowed current staffers with the temporary clearances to remain in their positions.
The reports come amid growing scrutiny over the White House’s response to domestic abuse allegations against Porter, who announced he was stepping down last week. Porter held an interim security clearance, leading many to question how his background check was handled.
Two other White House officials have resigned in recent weeks after being denied full security clearances.
Lawmakers have criticized the security clearance process and the White House’s handling of Porter, while the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday announced that it had launched an investigation into Porter’s security clearance.