The F.B.I. is reportedly looking into Jared Kushner’s dealing with Russian officials as part of their inquest into the country’s interference with the presidential election, The Washington Post reported Thursday evening. Of particular interest to investigators is Kushner’s relationship with former national security adviser Michael Flynn, and Kushner’s contacts with Russians, according to U.S. officials briefed on the probe who spoke to CNN.
In December, a month before the inauguration, Kushner, a senior adviser and son-in-law to President Donald Trump, met with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak alongside Flynn. Flynn was ousted from the administration earlier this year once it came to light that he had not been truthful about the full extent of his conversations with Kyslyak. Kushner did not attend a follow-up meeting requested by the ambassador, instead sending a deputy. But he did meet with Sergey Gorkov, the head of a Russian bank that has been the subject of U.S. sanctions, at his request.
Kushner did not report these meetings on his security clearance forms, an omission his lawyer explained was an unintentional error and one that he told the F.B.I. he could correct. Earlier this year, a White House official described the meetings as one of dozens that Kushner held with foreign leaders as part of his role on the Trump transition team. The official described the meetings as brief—less than 15 minutes—and not particularly memorable. “He didn’t think there was any need for a follow-up,” the official said. The Post also noted that while Kushner is currently the only White house official known to be considered a key individual in the probe, it has not been said that he is a central focus of the investigation, nor has be been accused of wrongdoing. In a statement, Kushner’s attorney, Jamie Gorelick, said that his client “previously volunteered to share with Congress what he knows about these meetings. He will do the same if he is contacted in connection with any other inquiry.”
With Kushner under scrutiny, the F.B.I. investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia—an allegation that President Trump has repeatedly denied—strikes closer to home. The First Son-in-Law occupies a singular role, and unusual job security, in Trump’s otherwise chaotic White House, which has been roiled by infighting. A political neophyte with no prior government experience, Kushner, 36, has been tasked with dealing with the Middle East peace process, the opioid crisis, a $1 trillion infrastructure project, reinventing government I.T. and reforming Veterans Affairs. But what he lacks in Washington know-how, he makes up for in what is perhaps the two most valued quality to the president—he is unyieldingly loyal, and he is family.
Kushner returned to Washington on Thursday after a nine-day, five-city trip abroad—the president’s first since taking office—that was largely planned and overseen by him and his team. At every stop—on the tarmac in Saudi Arabia and in meetings with a king and crowned princes; at the Western Wall in Israel; at the Vatican during his audience with Pope Francis—Kushner was either by his father-in-law’s side or one step behind him. After a relatively hiccup-free foreign foray, Kushner proclaimed in a rare on-the-record statement that the administration had made “great progress” and “[looked] forward to continuing to accomplish the president’s ambitious objectives.” The news broke as Kushner and his wife, Ivanka, flew home and settled back into life in Washington, D.C. Trump, however, remains in Sicily.
