Kushner hand in ‘ advising’ MBS after journo murder
Washington, Dec. 9: US President Donald Trump’s son- in- law Jared Kushner continued to have private conversations with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and advised him on how to deal with the aftermath of the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi operatives, a US media report said.
Kushner offered the crown prince advice “about how to weather the storm” following the killing of Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the New York Times reported, citing a Saudi source familiar with the conversations.
Since the early months of the Trump administration, Kushner, the President’s Middle East adviser, was in private and informal contact with Prince Mohammed, which was a cause of worry for senior American officials, the report said.
Given Kushner’s political inexperience, the private exchanges could make him susceptible to Saudi manipulation, said three former senior US officials.
In an effort to tighten practices at the White House, a new chief of staff tried to reimpose longstanding procedures stipulating that National Security Council staff members should participate in all calls with foreign leaders.
But even with the restrictions in place, Kushner, 37, and Prince Mohammed, 33, kept chatting, according to three former White House officials and two others briefed by the Saudi royal court. In fact, they said, the two men were on firstname terms, calling each other Jared and Mohammed in text messages and phone calls.
The exchanges continued even after the October 2 killing of Khashoggi, the Saudi journalist who was ambushed and dismembered by Saudi agents, according to two former senior American officials and the two people briefed by the Saudis.