Idea was broached in meeting Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser had with Russian ambassador
Such a line would have allowed Mr. Kushner to communicate securely with a Russian military official, but it was never set up, this person said... Among the questions investigators are also considering is whether any of Mr. Kushner’s business interests also have Russian links.. In addition to Mr. Kislyak, Mr. Kushner also met in December with Sergey Gorkov, the head of Vnesheconombank, a Russian bank that was placed on a U.S. sanctions list following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
How Worried Should Jared Kushner Be?
Kushner then met with Sergey Gorkov, the head of Vnesheconombank, a Russian bank, later that month, reportedly at Kislyak’s request. The bank is the subject of U.S. sanctions that were placed on Russia in 2014, after its invasion of Ukraine. Perhaps more concerning, Gorkov is also a graduate of Russia’s Academy of the Federal Security Service, which trains the country’s spies.
.. Kushner then met with Sergey Gorkov, the head of Vnesheconombank, a Russian bank, later that month, reportedly at Kislyak’s request. The bank is the subject of U.S. sanctions that were placed on Russia in 2014, after its invasion of Ukraine. Perhaps more concerning, Gorkov is also a graduate of Russia’s Academy of the Federal Security Service, which trains the country’s spies.
.. “The fact that Kushner hasn’t been contacted now, let’s assume it’s true,” the source close to Comey said. “It’s either meaningless with respect to culpability or, pointing to the riskier side, the more likely that he’s implicated, because the people you’re really suspicious of you don’t really interview until later.”
.. The Times reported that Kushner, along with Vice-President Mike Pence and the White House counsel, Don McGahn, “generally backed dismissing Mr. Comey.” In another report, the paper noted that Kushner specifically “had urged Mr. Trump to fire Mr. Comey.”
.. But there was one dissenter: Kushner, who was “urging the president to counterattack.”
.. it wasn’t just Trump who had a conflict of interest when deciding on whether to fire Comey. Trump’s conflict is clear: his former national-security adviser (Flynn), former campaign manager (Paul Manafort), former foreign-policy adviser (Carter Page), and former political adviser (Roger Stone), are all reportedly being investigated by the F.B.I.. But less has been said about Kushner’s conflict. Should Kushner, who we now know is under some level of scrutiny by the F.B.I., be advising his father-in-law to fire the F.B.I. director and “counterattack” the special counsel?
Jared Kushner to Cooperate in Any Probe Into Meetings With Russians
Senior White House aide’s meetings with two key Russians have drawn the interest of agents
Officials said Mr. Kushner met in December with Mr. Kislyak, the Russian ambassador. Mr. Kushner subsequently had an aide handle another meeting requested by Mr. Kislyak, during which the ambassador sought to arrange a meeting between Mr. Kushner and Sergei Gorkov, the head of Vneshekonombank, or VEB, the officials said.
That meeting between Mr. Kushner and Mr. Gorkov took place in December, a senior administration official said earlier this year.
.. The U.S. in 2014 had imposed sanctions against the Russian development bank as part of penalties that followed Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine. The Treasury Department sanctions prohibit certain specified financial contacts with the bank and others on the sanctions list.
A senior administration official said earlier this year that Mr. Kushner didn’t know the bank was under sanction and “wasn’t there to discuss business.”
.. “The meetings took place in the format of a roadshow for Vneshekonombank’s 2021 strategy with representatives from major banks and business circles in the U.S.,” including the head of Kushner Cos., Mr. Kushner’s real-estate firm, the bank said.
Report: Russian bank whose CEO met secretly with Jared Kushner helped finance Trump’s Toronto hotel
A Russian state-owned bank under US sanctions, whose CEO met with President Donald Trump’s son-in-law in December, helped financed the construction of the president’s 65-story Trump International Hotel and Tower in Toronto, according to a new report.
.. Mr. Shnaider injected more money into the Trump Toronto project, which was financially troubled. Mr. Shnaider’s lawyer, Symon Zucker, said in an April interview that about $15 million from the asset sale went into the Trump Toronto project.
.. The Trump Organization has distanced itself from the Toronto project, which faced financial difficulties last year. The organization “merely licensed its brand and manages the hotel and residences,” it told The Journal in a statement.
.. The project was initially a joint venture between Trump and Shnaider
.. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a top White House adviser, met with the Vnesheconombank CEO Sergey Gorkov in December, The New York Times reported in late March.
.. At the time, Kushner was trying to find investors for an office building on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
.. the meeting was reportedly orchestrated by Russia’s ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak, who also met with Kushner in December