Ivanka Trump’s scandals are spiraling out of control

| 8:40 pm EST March 6, 2019
Dear Palmer Report readers, we all understand the difficult era we're heading into. Major media outlets are caving to Trump already. Even the internet itself and publishing platforms may be at risk. But Palmer Report is nonetheless going to lead the fight. We're funding our 2025 operating expenses now, so we can keep publishing no matter what happens. I'm asking you to contribute if you can, because the stakes are just so high. You can donate here.

Welcome to Trumpland, where the norm is “another day, another scandal.” This time, it involves Ivanka Trump and her security clearance. Ivanka recently denied that her father had anything whatsoever to do with her husband Jared’s security clearance. As information continues to come to light, not only did Trump demand clearance for Jared, but he did the same for Ivanka. Et tu, Ivanka?

Ivanka was adamant in her denials during an interview with Abby Huntsman of The View. “There were anonymous leaks about there being issues. But the president had no involvement pertaining to my clearance or my husband’s clearance—zero.” Ivanka took things one step further, claiming that there were no problems with either of their clearances “other than a backlog.” Sure, Ivanka. Memos from both John Kelly and Don McGahn paint a different picture: red flags were found by intelligence personnel on both of them.

According to CNN, while Trump can grant clearances, that task is usually left to those who better know the process. Despite this, after Kelly and McGahn declined to grant the clearances, Trump apparently took things into his own (little) hands and granted the clearances, despite the misgivings of the intelligence community. Of course, we all know how Trump feels about our intelligence community. I’m sure he’s much smarter than all of them combined.

Interestingly, even though Ivanka’s rejection could have been triggered by issues from her husband Jared’s rejection, a source tells CNN that officials “had concerns about granting Trump a clearance that were separate from those raised about her husband.” This family is looking more and more like some type of crime syndicate, and John Kelly apparently knew it. The couple allegedly told others that Kelly “was blocking them” because “he did not feel like they belonged in the West Wing,” according to CNN. John Kelly has been doing this for a very long time. I daresay his experience tells him what constitutes a danger to the U.S. as opposed to some petty reason put forth by Kushner and Trump. But, I keep forgetting that the Trumps believe themselves to be above reproach and the law.

Anderson Cooper spoke with Kristen Powers of USA Today and former RNC Chief of Staff Mike Shields. Cooper is correct that Ivanka has no expertise in anything even remotely related to governance, and Kushner likewise has no expertise in peace negotiations. Shields’ contention that because Kushner is a businessman, he is savvy in negotiations, is ridiculous. No, he’s not. He is, for the most part, a failed businessperson. This is a clear case of nepotism that holds absolutely no value to the American people. Indeed, Trumps actions invariably do much more harm than good. It needs to end now.