Members of Donald Trump’s inner circle are plotting to skirt law enforcement background checks to get his political appointees immediate top secret security clearances, according to a New York Times report.
Citing three sources, the paper said a memo has been passed around to at least six people in the innermost cloister of Trump World, where the idea of installing MAGA loyalists after the election without getting traditional FBI background checks is gaining steam in some quarters.
The Times reported that Trump legal adviser Boris Epshteyn is among those pushing the idea but that it’s unclear whether Trump himself is aware of the memo.
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During Trump’s term in office, background checks held up the appointments of some of his White House aides, including Epshteyn and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Epshteyn, who was indicted earlier this year for his alleged involvement in Trump’s fake electors scheme in Arizona, is is one of Trump’s most leaned-upon aides, speaking to the Republican nominee several times a day, according to the Times.
He reached a plea deal through which his conviction in a 2014 assault-touching case following a bar fight was set aside, and in 2021 he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after allegedly groping two women in a nightclub. His conviction was set aside last year.
The Times reported that the proposal being circulated argues that the Trump camp could outsource private-sector background checks on his desired appointees during the transition period and then approve their access to classified secrets after taking office.
These privately obtained background checks would reportedly only be seen by the White House and not be shared with law enforcement.
Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung did not directly respond to the Times' request for comment about the memo, instead berating Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party for allegedly using “the Department of Justice to attack President Trump and his supporters,” and then adding that Trump would take advantage of “the full powers of the presidency” to see political appointments through if he wins office again.
