Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 2018)
Page 12 The Skanner February 28, 2018 News White House Downgrades Kushner’s Security Clearance WASHINGTON (AP) — The security clearance of White House senior ad- viser and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner has been downgraded, signifi- cantly reducing his access to classified information, according to two people informed of the decision. Kushner had been operating with an interim clearance at the “top secret/ sensitive compartmented information” level for more than a year. Now he is au- thorized to access information only at the lower “secret” level, according to a White House official and a person fa- miliar with the decision, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity. Nei- ther source was authorized to discuss the decision publicly. Tuesday’s news set off rampant spec- ulation among Trump allies that Kush- ner’s days in the White House might be numbered. On the same day, the de- parture of a third Kushner ally in the West Wing in as many months was an- nounced. And the selection of a Kush- ner ally to serve as Trump’s 2020 cam- paign manager appeared to suggest the campaign could provide Kushner with a convenient place to land after his White House duties end. Kushner lost his access to the nation’s deepest secrets after chief of staff John Hicks Resigns From White House WASHINGTON (AP) — White House Communications Director Hope Hicks, one of President Donald Trump’s most loyal aides, resigned Wednesday. The departure of one of the presi- dent’s longest-serving advisers, who worked as a one-woman communica- tions shop during his winning cam- paign, came as a surprise to most in the White House — and cast a pall over the West Wing at a tumultuous time. The news comes a day after Hicks was in- terviewed for nine hours by the House panel investigating Russia interfer- ence in the 2016 election and contact be- tween Trump’s campaign and Russia. In a statement, Trump praised Hicks for her work over the last three years, saying he “will miss having her by my side.” Hicks, who occupied to the desk clos- est to the Oval Office in the West Wing, has been a central participant in or witness to nearly every milestone and Thousands of Well-Armed Rebel Fighters Are in Syria’s Ghouta AP PHOTO/J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE World News Briefs Kelly ordered that White House offi- cials with interim clearances pending since before June 1, 2017, be cut off if they hadn’t received permanent clear- ances by last Friday. A White House official confirmed to The Associated Press that Kelly’s order has been imple- mented. President Donald Trump could have reversed Kelly’s decision and unilater- ally offered Kushner a clearance, but deferred to Kelly. Kushner is one of dozens of White House aides who have been working without permanent se- curity clearances for the better part of a year. White House Communications Director Hope Hicks, one of President Trump’s closest aides and advisers, arrives to meet behind closed doors with the House Intelligence Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday. Hicks announced her resignation Wednesday. controversy of the Trump campaign and White House. She began her White House tenure as director of strategic communications — a title that only partly captured her more expansive role as the president’s gatekeeper to the press. Hicks acknowledged to a House intel- ligence panel Tuesday that she has oc- casionally told “white lies” for Trump. But she said she had not lied about any- thing relevant to the Russia investiga- tion. She has also been interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller, in his expansive probe of Russian interfer- ence of the 2016 election and potential misdeeds committed by those in the president’s orbit. Hicks said in a statement, “There are no words to adequately express my gratitude to President Trump.” She added she wished Trump and his ad- ministration the “very best.” BEIRUT (AP) — The Syrian govern- ment’s battle to recapture the reb- el-held eastern suburbs of Damascus is likely to be a long and bloody fight be- cause of the presence of thousands of battle-hardened fighters who have had years to prepare. Many of the fighters entrenched in eastern Ghouta are originally from the area and move around using an elabo- rate network of underground tunnels, giving them an advantage against Pres- ident Bashar Assad’s forces and their Russian- and Iranian-backed allies. The territory of some 400,000 resi- dents is the last major opposition-con- trolled area near Assad’s seat of power, and the rebels have been targeting the capital with volleys of mortar shells, disrupting life in a reminder that they can deprive the city of peace as the gov- ernment, backed by Russia, rains down bombs and carnage on the besieged area. If government forces retake east- ern Ghouta, only one small pocket south of the capital held by the Islamic State group will remain out of govern- ment control. Among the more than 20,000 fight- ers in eastern Ghouta, a few hundred belong to the al-Qaida-linked Levant Liberation Committee, giving the gov- ernment a pretext to continue with its assault. In a letter on Monday to U.N. Secre- tary General Antonio Guterres, the three main rebel factions in eastern Gh- outa said they were committed to mak- ing al-Qaida-linked fighters and their families leave within 15 days. Information is powerful. The power is in your hands. www.TheSkanner.com TheSkannerNews @TheSkannerNews