Trump Agrees To FBI Background Checks For Nominees

The New York Times reports:

President-elect Donald J. Trump’s transition operation announced on Tuesday that it had belatedly signed an agreement with the Justice Department that will allow the F.B.I. to conduct background checks on people Mr. Trump intends to appoint as senior officials in his new administration.

F.B.I. background checks have long been a routine part of transitions. Law-enforcement vetting of a president-elect’s senior team is normally part of decisions about whether they can be entrusted with access to national security secrets, and senators traditionally want to see such dossiers during the confirmation process.

But Mr. Trump, who is hostile to the F.B.I. because of its role in various criminal and counterintelligence investigations into him, had let weeks pass without signing the agreement.

Semafor reports:

Some of Trump’s Cabinet nominees are opposed to submitting themselves to an FBI check until the bureau is revamped by his chosen director, two sources close to the transition team told Semafor. In addition, as of Tuesday the Trump transition team was still looking into tapping into the private sector to conduct background checks on some of its nominees.

It all adds up to a muddled answer to the question of how to ensure candidates for top Trump administration positions are fully vetted before their Senate confirmations. A Trump transition spokesman would not comment on how broadly it plans to use the FBI for background checks beyond the statement on its memo with the Justice Department.

Muddled indeed.