Jared Kushner Had Undisclosed Contact With Russian Envoy, Say Sources – Mother Jones

Dominique A. Pineiro / Planet Pix via Zuma

By Ned Parker and Jonathan Landay

Washington (Reuters) – The son -in -law of US President Donald Trump and close advisor, Jared Kushner, had at least three previously unknown contacts with the Russian ambassador to the United States during and after the 2016 presidential campaign, current Reuters and former American officials told Reuters.

These contacts included two telephone calls between April and November from last year, two of the sources said. At the beginning of this year, Kushner had become an objective of the FBI investigation to find out if there was a collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, said two other sources – a current and a former law enforcement.

Last year, Kushner first attracted the attention of FBI investigators when they started examining the bonds of former national councilor Michael Flynn with Russian officials, the two sources said.

While the FBI investigates Kushner’s contacts with Russia, it is not currently a target of this survey, said the current law enforcement.

The new information on the two calls as well as other details discovered by Reuters highlighted when and why Kushner drew FBI’s attention for the first time and shows that his contacts with Russian envoy Sergei Kislyak were more extensive than the White House recognized it.

NBC News reported Thursday that Kushner was examined by the FBI, in the first sign that the investigation, which started last July, reached the president’s inner circle.

The FBI refused to comment, while the Russian Embassy said it was political not to comment on individual diplomatic contacts. The White House did not respond to a request for comments.

Multiple attempts to obtain comments from Kushner or its representatives failed.

In March, the White House said Kushner and Flynn had met Kislyak in Trump Tower in December to establish “a communication line”. Kislyak also attended a Trump campaign speech in Washington in April 2016 Kushner attended. The White House has not recognized any other contact between Kushner and Russian officials.

Rear channel

Before the elections, the unknown discussions of Kislyak with Kushner and Flynn focused on the fight against terrorism and the improvement of American economic-Russian relations, six of the sources said. Former President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on Russia after seizing Crimea and began to support separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

After the November 8 elections, Kushner and Flynn also discussed with Kislyak the idea of ​​creating a rear channel between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin who could have circumvented diplomats and intelligence agencies, said two of the sources. Reuters could not determine how these discussions were carried out or exactly when they took place.

Reuters was the first to report last week that a rear channel proposal was discussed between Flynn and Kislyak while Trump was preparing to take office. The Washington Post was the first to report on Friday that Kushner participated in this conversation.

In addition, there were at least 18 calls and uncommon emails between Trump Associates and those linked to the Kremlin in the seven months preceding the presidential election of November 8, including six calls with Kislyak, sources told Reuters earlier this month. . Two people familiar with these 18 contacts said that Flynn and Kushner were one of Trump’s partners who spoke to the phone ambassador. Reuters previously pointed out only Flynn’s involvement in these discussions.

Six of the sources indicated that there were several contacts between Kushner and Kislyak, but refused to give details beyond the two telephone calls between April and November and the post-electoral conversation on the establishment of a rear chain. It is not clear either if Kushner signed up with Kislyak alone or with other Trump aid.

How Kushner was examined

The Kushner FBI exam started when Flynn’s contact intelligence reports with the Russians included mentions of American citizens, the names of which have been expared due to the American laws on privacy. This prompted investigators to ask the intelligence agencies to reveal the names of the Americans, said the current responsible for the application of American laws.

Kushner was one of the names that has been revealed, said the official, which caused a more in -depth examination of the president’s son -in -law with Kislyak and other Russians.

FBI investigators are examining whether the Russians have suggested to Kushner or other Trump aids that relaxing economic sanctions would allow Russian banks to offer funding to Trump -related persons, said the current head of the US law application.

Russian head of state Vneshesonombank, Sergei Nikolaevich Gorkov, a qualified intelligence officer that Putin has appointed, met Kushner to Trump Tower in December. The bank is under American sanctions and was involved in a 2015 espionage case in which one of its New York leaders pleaded guilty of spying and was imprisoned.

The bank said in a statement in March that it had met Kushner with other representatives of American banks and affairs as part of the preparation of a new business strategy.

Familiar officials with information on contacts between the Russians and Trump advisers have said that so far they have not seen evidence of any reprehensible acts or collusion between the Trump and the Kremlin camp. In addition, they said, nothing found so far indicates that Trump has authorized or even aware of contacts.

There may be nothing inappropriate in the contacts, underlined the head of the current law application.

Kushner proposed in March to be questioned by the Senate Intelligence Committee, which also investigates Russia’s attempts to intervene in last year’s elections.

Contacts between Trump campaign partners and Russian officials during the presidential campaign coincided with what US intelligence agencies have concluded an effort from the Kremlin by computer piracy, false news and propaganda to stimulate Trump’s chances of winning the White House and harming his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

(Report by Ned Parker and Jonathan Landay; additional report by John Walcott, Warren Strobel and Phil Stewart in Washington; edition by Kevin Krolicki and Ross Colvin)