Jared Kushner Hiding Information About Russia Backdoor And WikiLeaks Contacts, Senators Say

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Jared Kushner is being accused of withholding information relevant to the Senate's Russia investigation. Reuters

The President's son-in-law and trusted adviser Jared Kushner failed to provide Senate investigators with emails he was forwarded about WikiLeaks and an invitation to contact Russia through a "backdoor," two senior lawmakers claim.

In a letter to Kushner's lawyer Abbe Lowell, Senator Chuck Grassley and Senator Dianne Feinstein reveal that Kushner received emails in September 2016 about WikiLeaks and about a "Russian backdoor overture and dinner invite."

The Senate is currently looking into whether Trump and his associates colluded with Russia to influence the outcome of the 2016 Presidential campaign. The House and a special counsel are also conducting their own investigations into the same matter.

Now is a good time to remember that Jared Kushner still has security clearance & access to classified national security information. https://t.co/VAAHvsUWaZ

— Caroline Orr Bueno (@RVAwonk) November 16, 2017

The Senate lawmakers say they know of the existence of the documents from other witnesses in their investigation. Yet Kushner, who says he is cooperating, has not produced them.

"There are several documents that are known to exist but were not included in your production. For example, other parties have produced September 2016 email communications to Mr. Kushner concerning WikiLeaks, which Мr. Kushner then forwarded to another campaign official," the letter reads. "Likewise, other parties have produced documents concerning а "Russian backdoor overture and dinner invite" which Mr. Kushner also forwarded."

American intelligence agencies say that WikiLeaks worked as a channel for Russian intelligence services to share information stolen from the Democratic Party during the 2016 electoral campaign. Earlier this week, the Atlantic revealed that Donald Trump Jr., the president's son, had exchanged several direct messages with WikiLeaks via Twitter. The report also said Kushner had forwarded the information from WikiLeaks to a Trump campaign staffer.

In their letter to Kushner's lawyer, the Senators also requested copies of communications among Trump associates and the Belorussian-American businessman Sergei Millian, a former head of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce. Millian has long claimed to have ties to President Trump and his advisers, but the President's staff has said the ties are exaggerated.

I'm thinking that asking why Jared Kushner still has a security clearance may not capture all his misconduct. We really should be asking: Why is #Kushner still in the White House? https://t.co/YgOq7SpZoK

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) November 16, 2017

Reports earlier this year suggested that Millian may be one of the sources included in the Steele dossier, a document compiled by a former British intelligence officer detailing alleged ties between President Trump and Russia.

The Senate letter also indicated that Kushner's lawyer had failed to hand over unspecified phone records and a copy of a document Kushner submitted in order to obtain a government security clearance. Kushner's security clearance has come under fire in recent months after it was revealed that he failed to disclose information about his meetings with foreigners, including with a Russian lawyer with alleged ties to the Kremlin.

In addition to the documents about a back channel , the Senators requested documentation related to Trump former national security adviser Michael Flynn, including information on Flynn's ties to the head of a Russian energy company and WikiLeaks.

Reports suggest that Flynn is the next target of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia.

The Senators' letter comes following a Newsweek article earlier this week in which a former Watergate prosecutor claimed that definitive proof of Trump's collusion with Russia exists in the email inboxes of Jared Kushner, Trump advisor Stephen Miller, and former Trump campaign staffer Hope Hicks, among others.

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About the writer


Cristina Maza is an award-winning journalist who has reported from countries such as Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, India, Lithuania, Serbia, and Turkey. ... Read more

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