One story going around among conservatives online Thursday was the production of a letter from Trump national security adviser H.R. McMaster to one of his predecessors in the job, Susan Rice. The April letter alerts Rice, who worked in the Obama administration, that her security clearance has been renewed despite her leaving the White House in January.
“Going forward, the NSC will continue to work with you to ensure the appropriate security clearance documentation remains on file to allow you access to classified information,” reads the letter, which Circa’s Sara Carter reported on. “I hereby waive the requirement that you must have a ‘need-to-know’ to access any classified information contained in items you ‘originated, reviewed, signed or received while serving,’ as National Security Adviser.”
Rice’s role in the Benghazi scandal deservedly earned her the enmity of Obama critics. And the House investigation into potentially improper unmasking of Trump campaign associates has focused on Rice, too. So why is McMaster allowing Rice to maintain her security clearance? As Eli Lake reported, McMaster has “concluded Rice did nothing wrong” when she sought the names of Trump associates discussed in intelligence reports. Those sympathetic with Steve Bannon and McMaster’s immediate predecessor, Mike Flynn, believe otherwise and have insinuated that McMaster is working to undermine the Trump administration. Does Rice’s renewed security clearance show the Deep State at work?
Hardly, a White House official explained to me. I’m told McMaster wrote similar letters to all the living national security advisers from past administrations—Democratic and Republican—as a matter of longstanding practice. Revoking Rice’s clearance would have been unusual. And that practice applies not just to national security advisers but to other departments and agencies, such as secretary of State. The reason, the official said, is for the purposes of continuity. Without a continued security clearance, it would be illegal for government officials to discuss relevant sensitive information with a former official. The process for reauthorizing a past official’s security clearance is lengthy.
This may or may not be a bad practice, but one thing the official stressed to me was that this security clearance doesn’t give former officials like Rice continued asking privileges for sensitive information.
Mueller Watch—The special counsel investigation into Russian election meddling marches steadily forward. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Mueller has impanelled a grand jury in Washington to consider the investigation. White House counsel Ty Cobb said the administration “favors anything that accelerates the conclusion of this work fairly.”
Speaking of grand juries and presidents, be sure to read my colleague Jonathan Last’s interview with Ken Starr on why being in a White House with a special investigation swirling around you is “miserable.”
Trump Tweet of the Day
Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low. You can thank Congress, the same people that can’t even give us HCare!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 3, 2017
A source familiar with the conversation confirmed to me that the new White House chief of staff, John Kelly, did call Attorney General Jeff Sessions shortly after taking the West Wing job. The Associated Press first reported that Kelly called Sessions to “reassure him that his position was safe despite the recent onslaught of criticism he has taken” from Trump. My source confirmed the general terms of the AP’s article but did not divulge specific information about their conversation.
Kelly and Sessions have a friendly relationship, I’m told. The two administration officials traveled to the southern border together in April, when Kelly was the secretary of Homeland Security. They had dinner together in San Diego, at the end of their trip inspecting federal operations at the border and illegal immigrant detention facilities.
Feature of the Day—This piece in the Atlantic from psychology professor Jean Twenge on the effects of smartphone use on today’s teenagers is both fascinating and disturbing.
“Why are today’s teens waiting longer to take on both the responsibilities and the pleasures of adulthood?” Twenge writes. “Shifts in the economy, and parenting, certainly play a role. In an information economy that rewards higher education more than early work history, parents may be inclined to encourage their kids to stay home and study rather than to get a part-time job. Teens, in turn, seem to be content with this homebody arrangement—not because they’re so studious, but because their social life is lived on their phone. They don’t need to leave home to spend time with their friends.”
Move over, Cotton-Perdue. There’s another Republican immigration bill in town. Four Senate Republicans introduced legislation Thursday aimed at tightening up security along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The bill, dubbed the Building America’s Trust Act and sponsored by John Cornyn of Texas, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, John Barrasso of Wyoming, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, would allot $15 billion for “smart, multi-layered infrastructure” along the southern border. It would also increase penalties for crimes committed by illegal immigrants with prior convictions and hire more border patrol agents, immigration judges, and federal prosecutors.
The bill does not contain funding for the construction of a border wall, a signature campaign issue of President Trump’s. But the bill’s backers say they are optimistic that Trump will see a move to strengthen the border as a step in the right direction.
“With this president in the White House, we think we have an ally who can help us,” Cornyn said at the conference announcing the bill.
Many law enforcement organizations, including the National Border Patrol Council and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, have already endorsed the legislation.
Song of the Day—“Hate to Say I Told You So” by the Hives.
