Jared Kushner lost more than his top-secret security clearance this week.
Within a day of his clearance being downgraded, two key allies of Kushner and Ivanka Trump announced their plans to depart the White House: Josh Raffel and Hope Hicks.
News of Raffel’s impending exit was announced on Tuesday. As the Washington Examiner’s Gabby Morrongiello reported, “Inside the White House and among reporters, Raffel was largely seen as the personal spokesman for Kushner and Ivanka – always defending them against criticism and working to boost their image as advisers to the president.”
One day later, the White House confirmed communications director Hope Hicks would be leaving too. Before joining the president’s campaign, Hicks worked for Ivanka at the Trump Organization and remained close to her in Washington.
Both aides had reportedly considered leaving for some time before actually pulling the trigger this week.
As if that weren’t enough, the New York Times reported on Thursday that Trump “has privately asked [John Kelly] for his help in moving” Jared and Ivanka out of their roles.
Between the loss of Raffel, Hicks, and Kushner’s security clearance, the couple is ending their week in far worse shape than when it started. If efforts are indeed afoot on Trump’s behalf to move Jared and Ivanka out of the White House, their waning reinforcements could make that task easier.
