Trump’s transition team tries to avoid FBI investigation

President Donald Trump’s transition team is trying to avoid an FBI investigation. Traditional background checks are required by the rules for at least some candidates nominated by the president-elect. About this reports CNN.

Trump and his allies believe there is a slow-down in the FBI system that could hinder the president-elect’s plans to move forward with his agenda, people familiar with the matter say. saying.

Discussions on the topic come after Trump announced several controversial nominees for top US government posts, including Matt Gaetz for Attorney General and Tulsi Gabbard for Director of Intelligence National, according to a CNN report.

The authors acknowledge that the president ultimately has the final authority to designate and decide with whom information is shared, regardless of a protocol established after World War II. It was then common to screen applicants for foreign connections or other dangerous situations that could raise national security concerns.

But bypassing background checks would be a violation of longstanding Washington norms, the paper argues. CNN’s sources suggest that the efforts to circumvent the investigation process also reflect Trump’s deep trust in national security institutions.

Dan Meyer, the national security lawyer in Washington, said that the new Trump administration “does not want harmony.” They “don’t want the FBI to coordinate the rule, they want to destroy it,” he said.

Some of Trump’s advisers began circulating a memo before the election urging him to bypass the traditional background check process for some of his appointees, a source with knowledge of the memo told CNN. Instead of using law enforcement, the memo suggested hiring private experts who could conduct background checks more quickly.

Matt Gaetz has been at the center of Justice Department and House of Representatives ethics investigations into sex trafficking for years. The Justice Department declined to prosecute Gaetz, and the House Ethics Committee’s investigation, which was expected to wrap up within days, effectively ended when the Florida congressman resigned. this week. Goetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

As for Gabbard, she may have taken a softer stance toward foreign leaders who are widely viewed not only as America’s enemies but, in some cases, as brutal dictators. We are talking, in particular, about the presidents of Syria and Russia. And this raises questions among friends and critics alike. Gabbard, in particular, met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Syria in 2017 and said in 2019 that he is “not an enemy of the United States,” according to a CNN report.

If Gaetz doesn’t participate in the review process, the FBI could still try to conduct a background check at the Senate’s request. But one source familiar with the process noted that it is difficult to collect some of the data without his permission.

US officials are still waiting for Trump’s transition team to submit a list of names, including those being considered for Cabinet positions, for formal clearance screening. A source told CNN about this.