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Trump skips standard FBI background checks for some Cabinet appointees
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Trump skips standard FBI background checks for some Cabinet appointees

US President-elect Donald Trump has bypassed standard Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) background checks on some of his controversial cabinet appointees to further minimize the chances of them being rejected during Senate confirmation for any conflict of interest, CNN reported.

These background checks have been a longstanding tradition for incoming presidential nominations dating back to the beginning of the Cold War.

However, Trump outsourced it to private investigators instead of the FBI.

According to Trump and his allies, the FBI system is plagued by problems that could hinder the president-elect’s plan to quickly begin work on implementing his agenda, people briefed on the plans said.

Critics have said that intrusive background checks sometimes yield embarrassing information used to cause political damage.

The move to keep the FBI out of it aligns with a pre-election memo drafted by Trump’s legal advisers and also fits with his persistent suspicion that the agency is part of what, without evidence, he believes to be a “deep state”. machinery within the federal government bent on undermining him.

Trump appointed Matt Gaetz as attorney general, who faced a two-year Justice Department investigation into sex-trafficking allegations that were eventually dropped without charges being filed.

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However, it led to a further investigation by the House ethics committee, which was due to culminate in a report this week before Gaetz effectively suspended his publication by resigning.

Furthermore, it was not disclosed which of Trump’s picks were exempt from routine FBI vetting.

Ultimately, the president holds the final authority over who he appoints to share information, regardless of protocol established in the wake of World War II to ensure these selections have no unknown foreign ties.

Dan Meyer, a national security attorney in Washington, DC, said the incoming Trump administration “doesn’t want harmony.” They “don’t want the FBI to coordinate a rule; they want to hammer the norm,” he said.

What’s more, some of Trump’s advisers also circulated 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 matter told CNN note.

(With contributions from agencies)

Mansi Arora

Mansi Arora

Passionate geopolitical news writer with a keen eye for global affairs. With a passion for illuminating the complexity of global dynamics, Mansi explores his interests b

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