As reported by MSNBC, the Trump transition team has asked that Donald Trump’s three adult children (Donald Jr, Ivanka, and Eric) be given security clearance between now and their father’s inauguration. Trump has said this is not true. But perhaps he should reconsider (see below!)
The kids themselves don’t seem interested. When asked about concerns that she would become part of her father’s administration, Ivanka Trump responded, “No, I’m going to be a daughter.”
Eric Trump told CBS’s 60 Minutes that he would be busy in New York taking care of the business. “I think we’re going to have a lot of fun doing it and we’re going to make him very proud.”
You can imagine what the Dems are saying in response to the request for security clearance, and Kellyanne Conway has explained that any inquiries into obtaining such clearances for Trump’s children would have been made “very informally.”
Conway, Trump’s former campaign manager and the first female to ever successfully run a presidential campaign, will stay by the billionaire’s side as part of the Trump transition team. Donald Jr., Ivanka, Eric, and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are also part of the team.
“I think these are just regular inquiries among many that are made when folks are transitioning into a new administration – for the Trump family, a new city,” said Conway, adding that “somebody leaked it – I don’t know if to embarrass or to stir up trouble.”
Author’s Note: Trump’s children will be attending White House functions as part of the president-elect’s family, so of course they will have security clearances. They may be exposed to classified or sensitive information (for example, negotiating points with a foreign country), and this is the correct way to handle it.
I say give them clearance and the appropriate briefings so they don’t email or text something like Hillary did.
Editor’s note: As a former intelligence officer, I can tell you that spouses of intelligence officers are ALWAYS cleared, since they at some point they will be exposed to classified information. This does not mean they have a “need to know” it just means they know what it looks like and how to protect it. Its also means they know what is going on and can help their spouses in case of trouble.
In the case of Trump’s children, the opinions of their father are certainly items with national security implications. You cannot tell a President not to talk about anything classified because classified is not just what he reads in a document marked as “secret” Everything he says and does has the possibility of affecting national security and could be considered classified, and even his moods, his tendencies and much more. His children may not need access to handle classified documents, but they do need the clearance and especially the security training!
A security professional will teach Trump’s children how to help protect the integrity of the Office of the President, and how not to become unwitting “access agents” that might give a foreign intelligene service some advantage over their father.
Even President’s are human and Trump will not be isolated from his family. If they were to gossip in a public area about what they heard, it may indeed have national security implications. The giveaway of a single negotiating point in a rade agreement could be worth billions of dollars to the American people.
This is serious business. Unfortunately Hillary did not treat it seriously.