Trump Personally Intervened to Help Aide Natalie Harp Obtain Security Clearance After a Year Without One: Report
Key Takeaways
- •Jake Traylor reported that Natalie Harp had been working inside the White House for roughly a year before completing her security clearance process.
- •The report says Trump intervened after concerns were raised by the White House counsel's office and security officials.
- •Harp later completed the required federal forms, began a background investigation and received clearance in recent months.
- •Federal rules say an applicant must submit Standard Form 86 before an FBI-led clearance review can begin.
- •Without a completed clearance, personnel are barred from accessing classified information and secure facilities.
President Donald Trump's close aide Natalie Harp apparently worked inside the White House for a year without a security clearance, according to a report published Wednesday.
The disclosure came from Jake Traylor, White House correspondent for MS NOW, who reported on Harp, an aide who has been at the center of rumors about the nature of her relationship with Trump.
"Both people said Harp's reasoning for failing to complete the process was unknown," Traylor wrote in a post on X. "After concerns mounted among the White House counsel's office and security officials, the president himself intervened and Harp in recent months filled out the forms to launch a formal federal background investigation and received the clearance, one of the people said."
Under federal rules, a clearance investigation begins only after an applicant completes the Standard Form 86, a detailed questionnaire that triggers an FBI-led background review covering an applicant's finances, foreign contacts and personal history; personnel without a completed clearance are barred from accessing classified information and secure facilities.
Harp is a former One America News television host who previously served as a White House aide during Trump's first term in office, where she became known for her close proximity to the president.
Clearance handling drew scrutiny during that first term as well: a 2019 House Oversight Committee report, based on a career security official's whistleblower testimony, found the Trump White House approved clearances for 25 officials despite unfavorable determinations by career adjudicators, and The New York Times reported that Trump personally ordered a top-secret clearance for his son-in-law and then-senior adviser Jared Kushner over the objections of senior staff.
Questions about Harp and Trump were ignited this week after Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Georgia Democrat, delivered a takedown of the president, angering MAGA and the White House.
This report is based on coverage by Raw Story.
