Terrorism and security expert Malcolm Nance told MSNBC on Friday that Jared Kushner’s security clearances were flagged for a variety of reasons, but number one among them would be his secret attempts to create a back-channel to Russia.

Kushner “was flagged well before they came into the White House,” Nance said. “You’ll recall that there was a secret report that was issued that Jared Kushner had gone to the Russians and had asked them for secret cryptologic communications in order to have a back-channel behind NSA and CIA.”

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“That is the first thing that we would flag you for,” he continued, “because it means that you may be under the sway or in communications with a foreign power, against the best interest of the United States.”

Nance acknowledged that Trump may be “ultimate central adjudicating authority for security clearances in the White House,” but his decision to ignore the recommendations of others was still highly unusual, especially considering the risks associated with Kushner.

“Jared Kushner proved himself right off the bat as a security threat,” Nance said. “His financial dealings, whatever it was, it was so bad, the U.S. intelligence community didn’t want him to have their information.”

Watch the video below.