RUSSIA PREZ PROBE IS GAINING STEAM
Trump son-in-law agrees to meet with Senate panel
The scandal over potential Russian meddling in the U.S. election dragged on yesterday, as President Trump’s adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner volunteered to face questions from the Senate Intelligence Committee amid new doubts about the integrity of the Republicanled congressional probe into the controversy.
Kushner marks the fourth Trump associate to offer to meet with the Senate panel, which is digging into Russian hacking as well as ties between the former Soviet power and the real estate tycoon. Former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, adviser Carter Page and associate Roger Stone have also said they’ll sit down with the committee.
Kushner was the main contact with foreign governments and officials during both the campaign and the transition, the White House said.
“Mr. Kushner will certainly not be the last person the committee calls to give testimony, but we expect him to be able to provide answers to key questions that have arisen in our inquiry,” the chairman, North Carolina U.S. Sen. Richard Burr and the top Democrat, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia said in a joint statement.
The controversy shows no signs of easing up anytime soon.
It was revealed yesterday that House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes went to the White House when he met with the secret source that informed him that Trump associates had been caught up in “incidental” surveillance in the final stretch of the Obama administration.
Trump has used that revelation to declare partial vindication over his assertions that Obama had ordered Trump Tower wiretapped.
But critics used yesterday’s news that Nunes met at the White House — especially since Democratic Ranking Member Adam Schiff was excluded — to suggest the executive branch might be trying to influence his investigation.
Nunes has refused to reveal the name of the source he met with. He has insisted his secret source is not a White House staffer. His spokesman said that the California U.S. representative needed to use a secure room inside 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to look at classified “executive branch documents that have not been provided to Congress.”
“Because of classification rules, the source could not simply put the documents in a backpack and walk them over to the House Intelligence Committee space,” said spokesman Jack Langer.
“The White House grounds was the best location to safeguard the proper chain of custody and classification of these documents, so the chairman could view them in a legal way,” Langer said.