Trump's son-in-law has secret ties to the Russian Embassy in the US

Jared Kushner is said to have had at least three undisclosed contacts with the Russian Ambassador to the US during and after the 2016 presidential campaign.

On May 27, Reuters news agency quoted 7 anonymous US officials and former officials as saying that Jared Kushner, son-in-law and close advisor of President Donald Trump, had at least 3 secret contacts with the Russian Ambassador to the US during and after the 2016 election campaign.

The FBI's investigation of Jared Kushner is said to be the first move to touch President Donald Trump's closest circle. Illustration photo: Reuters.

Two of the sources said the contacts included two phone calls between April and November last year.

Reuters quoted six of its seven sources as saying that before the election, the Russian ambassador's discussions with Kushner and Flynn focused on the fight against terrorism and improving Russia-US economic relations in the context of former President Barack Obama imposing sanctions on Moscow after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.

After the November 8, 2016 election, Kushner and Flynn also discussed with Mr. Kislyak the idea of ​​creating a “back channel” between President Trump and President Putin that would bypass diplomatic and intelligence agencies.

Two other sources, including an official and a former US law enforcement official, said that since the beginning of this year, Jared Kushner has been the focus of an investigation by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) into whether there was any collusion between Mr. Trump's election team and the Russian government.

The two sources said that FBI investigators became interested in Kushner late last year when they began looking closely at former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's contacts with Russian officials. Reuters quoted a current US law enforcement official as saying that while the FBI is investigating Kushner's ties to Russia, he is not currently a subject of the investigation.

New information about the two calls and another detail recently uncovered by Reuters reveal when and why the FBI began looking into Kushner and also shows that the connections with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak are more extensive than the White House has acknowledged.

Previously, NBC news channel on May 25 also reported that Kushner was being investigated by the FBI and considered this the first move to "touch" President Donald Trump's closest circle.

The FBI has declined to comment on the reports, while the Russian Embassy in the United States said its policy is not to comment on personal diplomatic relationships. The White House did not respond to requests for comment.

Kushner's lawyer, Jamie Gorelick, said that Mr. Trump's son-in-law does not remember any calls to Russian Ambassador Kislyak between April and November 2016.

“Mr. Kushner had thousands of calls during this time period,” Ms. Gorelick said. “We have asked Reuters to provide the dates of the alleged calls so we can review and respond, but have not received that information.”

In March, the White House said Kushner and former adviser Flynn met with Kislyak at Trump Tower in December 2016 to establish a “line of communication.” Kislyak also attended a Trump rally in Washington in April 2016, which Kushner was also present. The White House has not acknowledged any other contact between Kushner and Russian officials./.

According to VOV