Jared Kushner Is Throwing a Tantrum Over Potentially Losing Access to Classified Information

Jared Kushner was once granted access to highly classified information exclusively because White House officials were afraid they’d antagonize him and his father-in-law. But now he’s poised to lose some of these privileges, and he is decidedly not happy about it.

The New York Times reported Tuesday evening that, as White House Chief of Staff John Kelly threatens to pull top security clearances for those whose background checks have been pending since June 1 or earlier, Kushner is, to put it delicately, losing it. He is “insist[ing] that he maintain his current level of access, including the ability to review the daily intelligence briefing when he sees fit” and feels “targeted personally [by Kelly’s] directive.”

Additionally, Kushner and his wife/Trump scion Ivanka have spent the weekend speaking critically of Kelly, the paper wrote.

From the Times:

“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,” Mr. Kelly said in a statement the White House released on Tuesday in which he refused to address Mr. Kushner’s security clearance or elaborate on his memo.

It is unclear whether Mr. Kushner would need to review highly classified information. His current portfolio […] seems unlikely to involve major intelligence or national security secrets.

Kelly’s new policy, which he distributed on Friday, specifically strips those whose background checks have been pending in the months before June 1 of the ability to see top secret or sensitive information. That group includes Jared Kushner—and whether he gets an exemption from the new rules will be telling.