Trump skips FBI background checks for controversial cabinet picks, opts for private vetting: Report

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is bypassing traditional FBI background checks for some Cabinet nominees, opting instead to use private companies for vetting potential candidates.

According to a CNN report, citing sources familiar with the transition process, Trump and his allies claim that the FBI’s background check system is slow and inefficient, potentially delaying the president-elect’s ability to swiftly implement his agenda.

Critics, however, contend that the thorough checks can sometimes uncover sensitive or damaging information, which is often used for political leverage, added the report.

The move comes amid Trump’s consideration of several controversial figures for key government positions, including Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence.

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The president has the final say on nominations and intelligence sharing, regardless of post-WWII protocols designed to prevent foreign ties or national security risks.

However, bypassing background checks breaks a long-standing Washington norm and underscores Trump’s deep mistrust of the national security apparatus, which he has repeatedly criticised as the “Deep State.”

Trump has privately questioned the need for law enforcement vetting, reported CNN, citing sources.

Dan Meyer, a national security attorney in Washington, DC, said the incoming Trump administration “doesn’t want harmony.”

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“They don’t want the FBI to coordinate a norm; they want to hammer the norm,” CNN quoted Meyer as saying.

Before the election, some of Trump’s advisers circulated a memo suggesting he bypass traditional background checks for some appointees, recommending private researchers instead of law enforcement to expedite the process.

While Trump could still submit names to the FBI, some nominees, like Matt Gaetz and Tulsi Gabbard, may face hurdles due to ongoing investigations or controversial stances.

Gaetz, under investigation for sex trafficking, faces scrutiny despite a DOJ decision not to charge him. Gabbard’s past meetings with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and her comments on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have raised concerns among allies.

Gabbard notably met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Syria in 2017, and said in 2019 that he was “not an enemy of the United States.”

In early 2022, she echoed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rationale for the country’s invasion of Ukraine, pinning the blame not on Moscow but on the Biden administration’s failure to acknowledge “Russia’s legitimate security concerns regarding Ukraine’s becoming a member of NATO” — a popular strain of thought in some right-wing circles.

In addition to the confirmation process, FBI background checks are used to vet nominees for a security clearance, which an attorney general nominee is required to have to do the job.

Trump could bypass background checks and security clearance processes, as he did for Jared Kushner in his first term. However, the delay in vetting has impacted the timing of classified briefings for incoming officials.

Trump’s transition team has resisted formal processes, which could delay national security clearances until after he’s sworn in. This lack of urgency mirrors the disorganized transition in 2017.

With inputs from agencies