“The president can authorize clearance for anyone he wants,” said Steven Aftergood, director of the project on government secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists. “It’s part of his commander-in-chief role. He has broad, essentially unlimited, access in this area.”
Like anyone else, Mr. Kushner would be subject to a background check by the F.B.I. But the president’s authority is so broad, Mr. Aftergood said, that he could override red flags — like fraud, huge personal debt or ties to foreign governments — that would disqualify other applicants…
Mr. Craig noted that private citizens are routinely given clearances to handle national-security assignments, like the Manhattan Project, or legal cases that involve classified material, as with David E. Kendall, the lawyer who represented Gen. David H. Petraeus when he was charged with turning over his confidential diary to his biographer and mistress.
If Mr. Trump were to take any of these steps with Mr. Kushner, however, he would be breaking with decades of practice. Normally, a security clearance is granted because a person’s job requires access to classified information, or because of a specific assignment that involves secrets. Members of a president’s family do not receive clearances, even though the president may discuss sensitive topics in their presence.
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