Kushner kept US officials 'in the dark' during Middle East trip -- and the Saudi government oversaw his security: report

U.S. embassy officials in Saudi Arabia say that they were kept totally out of the loop during Jared Kushner's recent trip to the country, and they said that the Saudi government even took charge of providing security for President Donald Trump's son-in-law.

The Daily Beast reports that staffers at the U.S. embassy in Riyadh "said they were not read in on the details of Jared Kushner’s trip to Saudi Arabia or the meetings he held with members of the country’s Royal Court last week," which is raising alarms since it was revealed that Trump overrode the objections of national security staffers to get Kushner permanent security clearance.

What made this a particularly striking departure from past norms, sources tell the Daily Beast, is that the U.S. embassy wasn't even involved in coordinating Kushner's security during his trip.

"When a member of the administration travels to another country, the embassy often helps coordinate the trip and provides some kind of security," the Daily Beast reports. "This time, though, the Saudi government provided security for Kushner and his entourage... and the embassy was largely left in the dark on the details of Kushner’s schedule and his conversations with Saudi officials."

Republican and Democratic lawmakers have both told the Daily Beast that they are frustrated by the embassy's lack of involvement, which has made it harder to get details of what Kushner discussed with the Saudis.