The trump administration has touted itself as a defender of national security, to the point where they've tested the limits of the law by aggressively enforcing their own protections which they claim is in the interest of national security. One would expect that the standards which needed to be met would have already been followed as they are set by those institutions that are designed to regulate and enforce those protections.

However, the Trump administration has blatantly defied those institutions and their protections openly and privately, such as with the recent reports of jared kushner and other White House officials setting up and using private email accounts.

Warnings from established security community

Politico reported last week that the National Security Agency warned members of the Trump team about using private email accounts for government business. The report titled: "NSA warned White House against using personal email", said that Trump aides were told about the dangers of using private email accounts and unvetted usage of smartphones because they could be compromised. Their concerns were that those devices and accounts could be hacked and infected with malware from foreign adversaries such as Russia, Iran, and others.

Those warnings were given during an NSA briefing that reportedly took place after Donald Trump had been inaugurated. The warnings were given to individuals -- who would eventually end up with those accounts and private phones that could compromise national security -- recalls reports of when similar warnings were made by former deputy attorney general Sally Yates to the administration, about another vulnerability being Gen.

Michael Flynn. It was reported that in January, after President Trump's national security pick, Michael Flynn had been interviewed for his position, that the Justice Department found reason to believe that Flynn posed a national security risk to the administration.

Trump White House already ignored authority

Yates made two attempts to warn the White House counsel, Don McGahn, of Flynn at the time, but the administration deliberately ignored the warnings.

The White House claimed after Flynn was forced to resign for possible collusion with Russian officials, that they thought Yates was joking. It so happens that Jared Kushner himself poses a significant security risk due to the fact that he has been given high-level portfolios, having many of the same responsibilities that are usually given to a secretary of state.

The President's son-in-law initially created his personal email account during the transition period late last year. Kushner's willingness to remain a point of vulnerability is also apparent with reports that Kushner made a request with Russian officials to establish a back channel to communicate with them so that federal surveillance -- like the NSA -- could not monitor them. Kushner's reported presence at a meeting with Russian officials last year at Trump Tower, also further establishes the President's son-in-law as a point of vulnerability. In spite of it all, the Trump administration defies those rules with little indication that they will heed the warnings.
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