Report: FBI probing Ivanka Trump business deal as she seeks clearance
Ivanka Trump at a White House meeting. Photo: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
FBI officials are looking into one of Ivanka Trump's international business deals connected to a hotel in Canada that opened in February 2017, right after Trump took office, CNN reports, citing two sources familiar with the probe.
Why it matters: This comes as Ivanka, an advisor to her father, is seeking full security clearance for her role, and could be a stumbling block, CNN reports. White House Chief of Staff John Kelly last week downgraded Ivanka's husband Jared Kushner's security clearance, preventing him from having access to top secret national security information.
"The FBI has been looking closely at the international business entanglements of both [Ivanka and Jared] to determine whether any of those deals could leave them vulnerable to pressure from foreign agents, including China, according to a US official," CNN reports.
Response: "CNN is wrong that any hurdle, obstacle, concern, red flag or problem has been raised with respect to Ms. Trump or her clearance application," said Peter Mirijanian, a spokesman for Ivanka Trump's ethics counsel. "Nothing in the new White House policy has changed Ms. Trump's ability to do the same work she has been doing since she joined the Administration."
