Jared Kushner 'wanted secret communications channel between Trump's transition team and the Kremlin using Russian diplomatic facilities in the US' dailymail.co.uk May 27, 2017 12:40 AM
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Russia’s ambassador to the United States discussed establishing a secret back-channel in order to avoid having their communications detected by US authorities, according to a report on Friday.
The nature of the discussions between Kushner and the Kremlin’s envoy to Washington, Sergey Kislyak, were relayed by intelligence officials who spoke to The Washington Post.
Meanwhile, Reuters is reporting that Kushner had at least three previously undisclosed contacts with Kislyak both during and after the 2016 presidential campaign.
Kislyak reported to his bosses in Moscow that Kushner proposed a direct back-channel connecting Trump's campaign and the Kremlin during a meeting at Trump Tower on or around December 1, the Post reported.
As per Kushner's suggestion, the communications between the Trump team and the Kremlin would be held inside Russian diplomatic facilities in the US, according to details of the discussions that were intercepted by intelligence officials.
Sergey Kislyak
The New York Times also reported Friday on the Kushner-Kislyak talks of a back-channel, with three sources telling the newspaper that the two men discussed possible cooperation in Syria as well as other policy matters.
The meeting at Trump Tower between Kushner and Kislyak was also attended by retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, according to the Post.
Flynn was Trump's chief advisor on foreign policy and national security during his presidential campaign.
After Trump's inauguration, Flynn was named national security advisor.
But he lasted only 18 days in office. The White House fired Flynn after it was learned he had misled top officials, among them Vice President Mike Pence, about the nature of his talks with Kislyak.
According to the Times, the purpose of the meeting was to establish the back-channel so that Flynn would have a direct line of communication with a senior military official in Moscow.
This back-channel would then be used to coordinate policy on matters including the Syrian civil war.
But Kushner reportedly abandoned the idea of a secret back-channel when it was learned that Trump planned to appoint Rex Tillerson, who was then the CEO at ExxonMobil and who had amassed experience in dealing with the Russian government, as secretary of state.
The White House disclosed the meeting between Kushner and Kislyak in March.
That meeting, though, is drawing scrutiny from the FBI, whose investigators believe that the matters discussed have relevance to the ongoing probe into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
Kushner's meeting with a Russian banker is also a subject of interest in the eyes of investigators, according to the Post.
At the time of the meeting, Trump Tower was the unofficial White House, and every coming and going was in public - except those which the Trump transition team organized to keep under wraps.
Kislyak, regarded as one of Russia's most important spies, was therefore smuggled in by the Trump team for the meeting.
Kislyak was said to be taken aback by Kushner's suggestion, since it would have entailed allowing American officials access to Russian communications equipment at its diplomatic missions.
Such an unusual arrangement would have not only posed security risks for the Russians, but also for Kushner and the Trump team, according to the Post.
Officials told the Post that the meeting between Kushner and Kislyak was not under US surveillance.
The communications of American nationals were also not subject to intelligence surveillance, officials told the Post.
The White House, the Russian embassy, and Flynn's lawyer all declined to comment on the matter, according to the Post.
The latest revelations will likely fuel further suspicions into the nature of the Trump campaign's contacts with Moscow.
US officials note that in years past Russia has intentionally misled authorities by feeding information it knows to be false so as to sow disinformation and confuse American intelligence officials.
In this case, however, it is uncertain what Kislyak would have to gain by concocting details of a back-channel proposed by Kushner.
The Reuters news agency, which is citing seven current and former US officials, is reporting that Kushner and Kislyak held undisclosed contacts which included two phone calls between April and November last year.
Kushner's attorney, Jamie Gorelick, said Kushner did not remember any calls with Kislyak between April and November.
'Mr. Kushner participated in thousands of calls in this time period. He has no recollection of the calls as described. We have asked (Reuters) for the dates of such alleged calls so we may look into it and respond, but we have not received such information,' she said.
Reuters was first to report last week that a proposal for a back channel was discussed between Flynn and Kislyak as Trump prepared to take office.
The Washington Post was first to report on Friday that Kushner participated in that conversation.
Separately, there were at least 18 undisclosed calls and emails between Trump associates and Kremlin-linked people in the seven months before the November 8 presidential election, including six calls with Kislyak, sources told Reuters earlier this month.
Two people familiar with those 18 contacts said Flynn and Kushner were among the Trump associates who spoke to the ambassador by telephone.
Reuters previously reported only Flynn’s involvement in those discussions.
Six of the sources said there were multiple contacts between Kushner and Kislyak but declined to give details beyond the two phone calls between April and November and the post-election conversation about setting up a back channel.
It is also not clear whether Kushner engaged with Kislyak on his own or with other Trump aides.
In April, The New York Times reported that Kushner failed to disclose his meeting with Kislyak when he filled out security clearance forms just before his father-in-law took office.
The forms are required of anyone looking to fill a senior position in the White House since it would entitle them to access to some of the country's most closely guarded secrets.
Not only did Kushner omit mention of his meeting with Kislyak, but he also failed to cite a meeting he held with Sergey Gorkov, a suspected Russian spy who now heads Vnesheconombank, a state-owned bank.
The meeting between Kushner and Gorkov was reportedly arranged at Kislyak's behest, according to the Times.
Democrats are likely to amplify earlier calls for Kushner to have his security clearance revoked in the wake of the Kislyak revelations.
'If this Kushner story is true, then Kushner should be nowhere near the White House, ever again,' House Rep. Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California, tweeted on Friday.
'If anyone on Obama’s transition team had tried this we would have had them locked up long before January 20 '09,' tweeted Richard Painter, an ethics lawyer who served in the George W. Bush administration.
SENATE INTEL PANEL REQUESTS TRUMP CAMPAIGN DOCUMENTS
The Senate Intelligence Committee, investigating Russian meddling in the US 2016 election, has asked President Donald Trump's political organization to hand over all documents going back the campaign's launch in June 2015, The Washington Post reported on Friday, citing two people briefed on the request.
The letter from the Senate panel seeking all documents, emails and telephone records arrived at Trump's campaign committee last week and was addressed to its treasurer, the Post said.
This marked the first time the Trump campaign organization has been drawn into the bipartisan committee's investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election, it said.
Dozens of former campaign staffers are expected to be contacted soon to ensure they are aware of the request, the Post said, citing the two people.
The letter was signed by Republican Senator Richard Burr, the committee’s chairman, and Senator Mark Warner, its top Democrat, according to the Post, which said representatives for Burr and Warner declined to comment.
The Senate panel's investigation is among several in Congress into Russian interference in the election, and is separate from a probe into the matter being led by a special counsel appointed last week by the Justice Department, former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller.
Trump’s campaign committee, based at Trump Tower in New York, is now led by Michael Glassner, a former deputy campaign manager, and John Pence, a nephew of Vice President Mike Pence, the Post said.
Glassner did not immediately respond to a request for comment and a White House representative had no immediate comment, the Post said.
Trump's administration has been dogged by concerns about its ties to Russia and questions over whether Trump associates may have cooperated with Russians as they sought to meddle in last year's election on Trump's behalf.
US intelligence agencies concluded in January that Moscow tried to sway the November vote in Trump's favor.
Russia has denied involvement, and Trump has denied any collusion between his campaign and Russia.
Controversy has engulfed Trump since he fired FBI Director James Comey on May 9 as Comey oversaw an investigation into possible collusion between his presidential campaign and Russia.
- Reuters
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