There are certain things one might reasonably expect when working inside the White House. A background check, for example. A security clearance, especially if your job involves being in close proximity to the President and handling information that passes through the Oval Office. And if it involves texting with world leaders on the President's behalf.
And then there is the Trump White House, where apparently some of these tedious little requirements can be put on the back burner.
Natalie Harp, one of Donald Trump's closest aides, reportedly spent more than a year working at the White House without obtaining the standard security clearance normally required of West Wing staffers. According to people familiar with the situation, Harp repeatedly declined to begin the clearance process. MS Now reports that her reason isn't clear.
What is clear is that she wasn't exactly working in some overlooked corner of the building.
Harp is unusually close to Trump and reportedly serves as a gatekeeper of sorts, filtering much of the information he sees each day. She has become a continual presence around the President, including at meetings and on trips, making the absence of a security clearance somewhat more than a bureaucratic technicality.
Eventually, the situation triggered concerns among White House counsel and security officials.
And that's when Donald Trump apparently did what Donald Trump does best: intervene personally when one of his favorites encounters an inconvenient rule. After Trump's intervention, Harp finally completed the paperwork needed to launch a formal background investigation and received her security clearance in recent months.
So let's recap.
For more than a year, an aide with extraordinarily close access to the President reportedly didn't have the customary security clearance expected of White House staff.
People inside the administration became concerned.
Trump intervened. This President needed his binky, after all.
And eventually, she got cleared.
Nothing to see here, folks. Please move along.
Of course, this is the same White House where proximity to Donald Trump appears to be an increasingly useful credential on its own. Qualifications, procedures and acceptable protocols are apparently negotiable when the President has decided that someone belongs in his inner circle.
Remember when government security procedures were supposed to be, you know, security procedures? Silly us. Apparently the new standard is less “Have you been properly vetted?” and more “Does the President like having you around?”
And if that's the standard, perhaps the next security briefing should simply consist of a thumbs-up from Trump. Much more efficient.
