Kushner under fire in links to Russian storm
DONALD Trump’s eldest son Donald Jr may be in the media spotlight over his notorious Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer promising dirt on Hillary Clinton – but the latest revelation in the burgeoning scandal has added to the pressure on Jared Kushner, the president’s influential son-in-law.
Kushner, already in the crosshairs of investigators, attended the controversial meeting with Donald Jr.
Democrats are now demanding that Kushner, 36 – a senior adviser to the president with an office in the White House – be stripped of his security clearance.
Even some from Trump’s Republican Party are not sure that Kushner – married to the president’s eldest daughter, Ivanka – should remain in the West Wing. Texas representative Bill Flores told local television “it would be in the president’s best interest if he removed all of his children from the White House”.
It was an omission on a government security clearance application filed by Kushner that led to the revelation of the meeting between himself, Donald Jr, exTrump campaign manager Paul Manafort and the Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, said to have links with the Kremlin.
It led Donald Jr to release a June 2016 email chain about the planning of that meeting – which is now being cited as the most serious evidence yet of alleged collusion between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia.
But even before revelations of the Veselnitskaya meeting came to light, Kushner’s other dealings with Russian officials have been facing scrutiny.
The Washington Post reported last month that Kushner’s finances and business dealings were being examined as part of a probe led by special counsel and former FBI director Robert Mueller into whether the Trump campaign teamed up with Russia to help tilt the presidential race in favour of the tycoon.
Democrats have written to the White House, urging action. “It is unclear why Mr Kushner continues to have access to classified information while these allegations are being investigated,” said a letter from members of the House Oversight Committee. — AFP