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FBI focuses on Kushner meetings in probe
WASHINGTON — Investigators are focusing on a series of meetings held by Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and an influential White House adviser, as part of their probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election and related matters, according to people familiar with the investigation.
Kushner — who held meetings in December with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak and banker Sergey Gorkov — is being investigated because of the extent and nature of his interactions with the Russians, the people said.
Gorkov is the head of Vnesheconombank, the subject of U.S. sanctions following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its support of separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The Washington Post reported last week that a senior White House official close to the president was a significant focus of the investigation, though it did not name Kushner.
FBI agents also remain interested in former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, but Kushner is the only current White House official known to be considered a key person in the probe.
The Post has not been told that Kushner is a target — or the central focus — of the investigation, and he has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Target is a word that generally refers to someone who is the main suspect of investigators’ attention, though prosecutors can and do bring charges against people who are not marked with that distinction.
“Mr. Kushner previously volunteered to share with Congress what he knows about these meetings. He will do the same if he is contacted in connection with any other inquiry,” said Jamie Gorelick, one of his attorneys.
Meanwhile, the Senate intelligence committee voted Thursday to give its top Republican and Democrat “blanket authority” to issue subpoenas for the duration of its probe into alleged Russian meddling, according to the committee chairman.
Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., told reporters that the vote to leave subpoena decisions up to himself and vice chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., was unanimous.
They have already encountered resistance from Flynn, who notified the committee through his lawyers this week that he would not comply with a subpoena request for documents detailing contacts he had with Russian officials between June 16, 2015, and Jan. 20, 2017, invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. The committee responded by narrowing the focus of their subpoena for records from Flynn, and by issuing two new subpoenas for records from Flynn’s Virginia-based businesses.
The committee is seeking documents and testimony from other members of Trump’s campaign and transition teams. The committee is also planning to interview former FBI Director James Comey soon after Congress reconvenes, following a one-week recess next week.
Also on Thursday, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, asked the FBI to turn over more documents about Comey’s interactions with the White House and Justice Department, including materials dating back to September 2013, when Comey was sworn in as FBI director under then-President Barack Obama.
Chaffetz previously requested Comey’s recent memos about his private contacts with Trump. But the bureau told him Thursday it could not yet turn them over because of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russia’s suspected meddling in the 2016 election. Trump fired Comey on May 9 amid questions about the FBI’s investigation.
Former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman has withdrawn from consideration for the role of FBI director, becoming the latest contender to pull out.