WASHINGTON (JTA) — FBI agents investigating ties between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia reportedly are focused on meetings that Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, had with Russian figures.
The Washington Post and NBC each reported late Thursday that Kushner’s interactions were of interest to the FBI, but that this did not mean he was a target of the investigation.
Kushner, who is Jewish, is one of Trump’s closest advisers. He met separately last December, after the election but before Trump assumed office, with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to Washington, and Sergey Gorkov, the head of the government-owned Vnesheconombank, which has been subject to U.S. sanctions because of its role in Russia’s occupation of a part of Ukraine.
The New York Times reported last month that Kushner omitted in filling out security clearance forms having communicated with Kislyak and Gorkov. Subsequently, five Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives called for Kushner’s clearance to be revoked.
Both news outlets quoted Jamie Gorelick, Kushner’s lawyer, as saying he would cooperate with any investigation.
“Mr. Kushner previously volunteered to share with Congress what he knows about these meetings,” Gorelick said. “He will do the same if he is contacted in connection with any other inquiry.”
Kushner in March said he was ready to testify about his Russia meetings to the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Michael Flynn, Trump’s first national security adviser, is a subject of the investigation, as is Paul Manafort, who was Trump’s campaign manager for a period last year. Flynn resigned in February after the extent of his ties to Russia and Turkey became known.
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