McMullin on Lack of W.H. Security Clearances: Trump’s ‘Poorly Suited to Handle’ Classified Info

RUSH EXCERPT:

McMULLIN: "Well, there is a backlog for security clearances. That’s true, and actually, there’s been a backlog for a long time. But what’s also true is that when a new administration comes to power in the U.S., the president’s appointees, especially senior ones, those in the White House serving the president directly, they go to the top of the line. It’s not like they start in the back of the line and just have to wait their turn. That’s not at all how it works. They go to the front of the line, and they’re processed more quickly for obvious reasons. What you have happening here is that you have people in the administration like rob porter who were unfit for a full security clearance, and therefore, this is my read of it, therefore they struggled to get one. But at the same time, both rob porter and Kushner were important to the president, are important to the president, and Kushner’s case, and so, you know, allowances are made, and they have provisional security clearances that allow them to continue to operate in the white House. Of course, rob porter is now resigned. Or was fired, but my point here, the bigger point here is this administration and indeed trump’s team before the campaign, during the campaign, and now in the White House, includes people who are totally unfit to handle classified information. Either because they have relationships with foreign governments and foreign actors that are adversarial to the United States’ interests or they have personal habits that leave them vulnerable to blackmail, or they exhibit poor judgment or a lack of control over their own actions in the case of these wife beaters who have accused wife beaters who have resigned. All of these factor into whether somebody should be trusted with our national’s most trusted information, and sadly, trump and his team are, I would say, poorly suited to handle information like this, and this is why getting clearances for much — many members of his team is difficult."