I DIDN’T COLLUDE WITH THE RUSSIANS, SAYS KUSHNER
NEW YORK • Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner set out Monday to lift the cloud of suspicion regarding his dealings with Russians, insisting that he had “nothing to hide,” and stating: “I did not collude.”
Kushner, senior adviser to the president, was questioned for more than two hours by staff members from the Senate intelligence committee.
Tuesday he will speak before the House intelligence committee, and be questioned by congressmen.
“All of my actions were proper and occurred in the normal course of events of a very unique campaign,” Kushner said Monday, speaking at the White House after the hearing.
“Let me be very clear — I did not collude with Russia, nor do I know of anyone else in the campaign who did so. I had no improper contacts.” Kushner looked relaxed as he strolled slowly back into the West Wing of the White House after his statement.
The 36-year-old has found himself in an increasingly uncomfortable spotlight, facing allegations of setting up a “back channel” to the Kremlin through Sergei Kislyak, the Russian ambassador, and questions of why he failed to fully disclose all meetings with foreign individuals on his security clearance form as required by law. He also attended a June 2016 meeting with Donald Trump Jr. and a group of Russians including a Kremlin-linked lawyer, a former Soviet spy and several translators, set up in the hope that the Russian lawyer would offer damaging information on Hillary Clinton.
In an 11-page statement, Kushner said he was unaware what the June 2016 meeting was about. He said he arrived late and heard those present talking about adoption, at which point he messaged an assistant asking for an excuse to leave.
He dismissed concerns about his security clearance forms, saying they were submitted in draft form amid the chaos of the presidential transition.
He said that the “back channel” to Moscow was a suggestion for discussing U.S. policy in Syria, although he failed to explain why he preferred a secure line in the Russian embassy, rather than a U.S. government facility.
Kushner also dismissed what he saw as an attempt to discredit his father-in-law’s victory. “Donald Trump had a better message and ran a smarter campaign and that is why he won,” he said. “Suggesting otherwise ridicules those who voted for him.”