Kushner ‘talked about forging secret back channel with the Kremlin’
President’s son-in-law and adviser is already a ‘person of interest’ in investigation launched by the FBI
JARED KUSHNER, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and White House adviser, discussed establishing a secret back door communications channel between the incoming president’s legal team and the Kremlin, it was reported last night.
According to the Washington Post Mr Kushner, who is already a person of interest in an FBI investigation, held discussions with Sergey Kislyak, Russia’s ambassador to Washington.
The purpose was allegedly to avoid their discussions ahead of the inauguration being monitored.
It was reported that Mr Trump made the proposal, which would have entailed using Russian diplomatic facilities, at a meeting at the beginning of December in Trump Tower. Details of the meeting emerged following the interception of Russian communications by US officials.
It was reported that Mr Kislyak was taken aback by the suggestions which, he feared, would have carried risks for the Russians as well as the Trump transition team.
It came as the FBI said it is to investigate whether a data analytics operation run by Mr Kushner, during the 2016 election was involved in Russia’s alleged interference efforts, it has been reported.
The inclusion of Mr Kushner in inquiries over links between the Trump election campaign and Russia is the first time a current White House staff member has been named as part of the probe. It triggered calls from the Democrats for Mr Kushner’s security clearance to be revoked.
Details of his inclusion were leaked to media outlets by several US officials.
Investigators are now expected to look into the Trump campaign’s data analytics operation, which was overseen by Mr Kushner. They are also expected to examine his dealings with Russian officials and businessmen.
The FBI will examine whether Russian operatives used people associated with the campaign’s data wing – wittingly or unwittingly – in a sophisticated operation to use online tools to influence the election, according to US officials cited by CNN.
The Kremlin has been accused of using computer “bots” (programs that perform repetitive functions) to spread negative information about Hillary Clinton, Mr Trump’s rival for the White House, and of pushing stories on Facebook that favoured Mr Trump.
Mr Kushner boasted of his use of data targeting to sell Trump merchandise, which developed into an operation that helped the campaign understand which of the candidate’s messages played best, and where.
“I called somebody who works for one of the technology companies that I work with, and I had them give me a tutorial,” Mr Kushner told Forbes.
It has not been made clear if the FBI will speak directly with Mr Kushner, who is married to Mr Trump’s daughter Ivanka and said to be one of the few people the president trusts. He had “previously volunteered” to testify before a separate congressional inquiry.
Mr Kushner was initially seen as a moderating influence in a White House staffed by Right-wing figures. His dislike for Steve Bannon, Mr Trump’s chief strategist and former editor of the “Alt-right” Breitbart news website, is well known.
But it is Mr Kushner who has reportedly led the White House’s haphazard response to the FBI investigation. He is said, for example, to have pushed for the sacking of James Comey, the FBI director who was leading the inquiry.
Meanwhile, media reports this week suggest Russia also tried to disrupt the FBI probe into Mrs Clinton’s use of a private email server, with fake intelligence that suggested collusion between the then attorney general Loretta Lynch and Mrs Clinton.