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Fri 11 Aug, 2017 01:29 pm
What Did Kushner Do?
White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump‘s husband, met with Russians on at least four occasions last year beginning in April 2016.
He initially failed to disclose all of the contacts — including two meetings with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak — on his security clearance forms. In one of those meetings in December 2016, Kushner and incoming national security adviser Mike Flynn reportedly discussed the possibility of setting up a direct line of communication to the Russian government before Trump officially took office.
Kushner wanted this channel to be secret in order to “shield their pre-inauguration discussions from monitoring,” according to an initial Washington Post report citing intercepts of Russian communications reviewed by U.S. officials.
Reuters also reported that Kushner spoke with Kislyak on two additional occasions during the campaign. Kushner has denied that such conversations took place.
What Other Meetings Did Kushner Have?
Beyond the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower, Kushner also had a December meeting with Sergey Gorkov, the Putin-appointed head of Vnesheconombank, a Russian development bank that is currently under U.S. sanctions. Kushner has maintained that it was a routine diplomatic encounter, while officials for the Russian bank later said the meeting pertained to Kushner’s family real estate business.
In early 2016, Russian investor Yuri Milner also contributed a substantial sum of money to a Kushner-led real estate startup. And Dasha Zhukova, wife of Roman Abramovich, a billionaire Russian oligarch with strong ties to Putin, is known to be close friends with Kushner’s wife, Ivanka Trump. Zhukova attended the inauguration as her guest.
Why Does It Matter?
U.S. investigators reportedly considered Kushner a “key person” in their Russia probe earlier this year, leading them to narrow in on Kushner’s undisclosed Russian contacts. Investigators are also reportedly looking into Kushner’s finances and business dealings to determine if there are any conflicts with his current role as the president’s senior adviser.
What Was The Fallout?
Kushner has spoken to congressional investigators and provided a lengthy written statement in an attempt to clear up questions about the nature of his meetings with Russians. In July, Kushner denied that he’d colluded with the Russian government and claimed the line of communication he’d attempted to establish with the Kremlin was not secret. He also maintained that he’d never discussed specific policies with Russian officials.
But critics have suggested that Kushner’s sweeping denials have left many questions unanswered while raising new ones.
“His description of his financial relationships with individuals and businesses tied to Russia appears incomplete, at best,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said in response to Kushner’s letter. “There should be no presumption that he is telling the whole truth in this statement.”
Nick Wing Senior Viral Editor, HuffPost
Marc Janks Manager of Multimedia, The Huffington Post