Trump Would Fail A Basic Background Check

Do you love America? Are you not a pervert? If you work in any form of government, chances are you know someone who went through the background check process to get a job or you have gone through it yourself.

Take a moment and consider the thousands of regular people who go to work every day because they passed a routine background check. They range from 22-year-old recent college graduates all the way to up our top intelligence officers. Now consider that the President of the United States, if asked the same sorts of questions as everyone else, would almost certainly fail the test.

Really. How could he pass with his hundreds of millions in debt to foreign entities, friendships with oligarchs and mobsters, and an infamous videotape where he bragged about sexual assault? It’s disturbing that President Trump is somehow exempt from the bright red flags on his record and can make life or death decisions from the Situation Room, or Mar-a-Lago, whenever the mood strikes.

Read a standard set of federal background check requirements for yourself and see why I’m confident Trump should not have a security clearance:

First, Allegiance to the United States.

“An individual must be of unquestioned allegiance to the United States. The willingness to safeguard classified information is in doubt if there is any reason to suspect an individual’s allegiance to the United States.”

Throughout the 2016 campaign, and even since taking office, Trump has failed to demonstrate he has complete allegiance to the United States. Trump constantly said on the campaign trail that the world is laughing at us, America doesn’t win anymore, and even said our military generals “don’t know much.”

He took it further in September 2016 by going on a Russian television network RT identified by US intelligence as “the Kremlin’s principal international propaganda outlet” and attacked US foreign policy under President Bush and called the American press “unbelievably dishonest.”

“Donald Trump, On Russian TV Network, Criticizes U.S. Foreign Policy.”

- Wall Street Journal, 9/9/16

In a different interview as President, Trump was asked why he respects Vladimir Putin who is a “killer.” He responded, “There are a lot of killers. You think our country’s so innocent?”

Second, Foreign Influence.

“Foreign contacts and interests may be a security concern if the individual has divided loyalties or foreign financial interests, may be manipulated or induced to help a foreign person, group, organization, or government in a way that is not in U.S. interests, or is vulnerable to pressure or coercion [sic] by any foreign interest. Adjudication under this Guideline can and should consider the identity of the foreign country in which the foreign contact or financial interest is located, including, but not limited to, such considerations as whether the foreign country is known to target United States citizens to obtain protected information and/or is associated with a risk of terrorism.”

Donald Trump has engaged in business with Russia since the 1980’s. He brought the Miss Universe pageant to Moscow in 2013 at the behest of a top-Putin ally Aras Agalrov and boasted about taking meetings with “all the oligarchs in the room.”

There is no way for us to know how invested Trump is in Russia or Russia is in Trump because he will not release his tax returns or step away from his businesses that continue to operate overseas. We can take a guess though, as Donald Trump Jr. said in 2008, “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets.”

Of course, conducting business overseas is not against the law or even necessarily disqualifying on a background check. The problem here is that Russia is a “foreign country known to target United States citizens to obtain protected information.” US intelligence concluded Putin ordered hacks of the DNC and Clinton Chairman John Podesta to undermine our election and boost Trump. One year prior, the Russian government also hacked the Pentagon Joint Chief of Staff’s email system in 2015, putting 3,500 US military personnel and civilians at risk.

Third, Sexual Behavior.

“Sexual behavior that involves a criminal offense, indicates a personality or emotional disorder, reflects lack of judgment or discretion, or which may subject the individual to undue influence or coercion, exploitation, or duress can raise questions about an individual’s reliability, trustworthiness and ability to protect classified information.”

You don’t need to look further than the infamous Access Hollywood tape from 2005 during which Donald Trump said he could “grab” women by the genitals because “when you’re a star they let you do it, you can do anything.”

But for argument’s sake, let’s go beyond the tape. As the host of various beauty pageants, Trump liked to brag about barging into the dressing rooms while participants were changing, made lewd comments to the contestants on his reality show The Apprentice, and has been accused of sexual harassment or assault by sixteen different women.

Fourth, Personal Conduct.

“Conduct involving questionable judgment, lack of candor, dishonesty, or unwillingness to comply with rules and regulations can raise questions about an individual’s reliability, trustworthiness and ability to protect classified information. Of special interest is any failure to provide truthful and candid answers during the security clearance process or any other failure to cooperate with the security clearance process.”

Trump is a liar. By Day 63 of his presidency, the Washington Post counted 317 false or misleading claims. Even his own aides stumble when trying to explain away his penchant for lying. White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway said reporters should look at what is in Trump’s “heart” rather than report “what’s come out of his mouth.” Press Secretary Sean Spicer was caught flat-footed by the question, “When can we trust the President when he says something is phony and when he says it’s real?”

Fifth, Financial Considerations.

“Failure or inability to live within one’s means, satisfy debts, and meet financial obligations may indicate poor self-control, lack of judgment, or unwillingness to abide by rules and regulations, all of which can raise questions about an individual’s reliability, trustworthiness and ability to protect classified information. An individual who is financially overextended is at risk of having to engage in illegal acts to generate funds. Compulsive gambling is a concern as it may lead to financial crimes including espionage. Affluence that cannot be explained by known sources of income is also a security concern. It may indicate proceeds from financially profitable criminal acts.”

Trump calls himself “The King of Debt.” He said, “I’m the king of debt. I’m great with debt. Nobody knows debt better than me.”

That statement is actually another lie because his debtors on Wall Street and banks in China and Germany have the leg up. Trump’s business, from which he has not divested and can still draw income, owes a whopping $300 million to the German-based Deutsche Bank and maintains a stake in $950 million in debt owed in part to the Bank of China.

Trump fails to “satisfy debts” and is obviously “financial overextended.” While he may not turn to gambling to pay his debts, as president he is playing a higher stakes game. Who can stop another foreign actor or hostile country or Wall Street firm with an agenda from buying out his debt and using it as a negotiating tool?

There is more criteria beyond these five areas to determine if someone passes a background check. Similarly, there are far more examples from Trump’s financial and personal background to suggest he would be unable to obtain a basic security clearance than listed here. What is clear from this brief analysis is our current president fails a very basic test and should not be able to make the security decisions that come with being President of the United States.