Panel to ‘question’ Kushner on Russia

Stone offers to testify

WASHINGTON, March 27, (RTRS): The Senate Intelligence Committee is seeking to interview US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as part of its investigation into ties between Trump associates and Russian officials.

Rebecca Glover Watkins, a spokeswoman for Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, confirmed that Kushner has been called.

Kushner, an adviser to Trump during his presidential campaign and in the White House, would be the closest person to the president to be questioned in the congressional investigations into Russia’s role in the 2016 election.

At least four congressional committees are probing possible Russian attempts to influence the vote and any ties between Moscow and Trump associates. FBI Director James Comey confirmed the agency’s investigation last week. A White House official told Reuters that Kushner has volunteered to speak to the Senate Intelligence Committee but has not received confirmation.

The official said Kushner was the main point of contact with foreign governments and officials during the presidential campaign and transition. Members of a president-elect’s team routinely meet with Russians or other foreign officials.

The Senate panel wants to ask Kushner about two meetings arranged with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak at Trump Tower in New York in December, as well as a meeting with the head of Russia’s stateowned development bank.

Kuchner

Sanctioned

The bank, Vnesheconombank, was among the Russian banks sanctioned by the Obama administration in 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea.

The New York Times first reported the committee’s request and details of the meetings with the Russians. Watkins confirmed the report.

The US intelligence community has concluded Moscow orchestrated the hacking of Democratic Party groups during the campaign and released the stolen information to benefit Trump. Russia has denied the allegations.

Kushner arranged a meeting with Kislyak in early December that was also attended by Trump’s shortlived national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who was fired after misrepresenting his contacts with the ambassador.

Meanwhile, Roger Stone, a longtime ally of Trump, said on Sunday he has offered to testify before a congressional committee investigating possible Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and ties to the Trump campaign.

Stone, an informal adviser to Trump, told ABC’s “This Week” he had not received a reply from the House of Representatives intelligence committee on his offer of public testimony.

Along with former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, who has also offered to appear before the panel, Stone was among the Trump associates whose communications and financial transactions were being examined by the FBI and others as part of a larger investigation into possible links with Russian officials, according to a Jan 20 report in the New York Times.

Without citing any names, FBI Director James Comey confirmed at the committee’s public hearing last week that the FBI was investigating possible Russian ties to Trump’s campaign as Moscow sought to influence the 2016 election. Stone said he was anxious to testify in public. “I reiterate again, I have had no contacts or collusions with the Russians,” he told ABC, adding later, “There is no collusion, none, at least none that I know about, in Donald Trump’s campaign for president.”