‘Hopefully, This Puts These Matters to Rest’Â Kushner Says
Jared Kushner has released a nearly 3700 word statement ahead of his private, closed door meeting Monday with the Senate Intelligence Committee, The Washington Post reports. In his statement, in bold type, the Senior Advisor to the President says:
“I did not collude, nor know of anyone else in the campaign who colluded, with any foreign government,” Kushner said insists. “I had no improper contacts. I have not relied on Russian funds to finance my business activities in the private sector. I have tried to be fully transparent with regard to the filing of my SF-86 form, above and beyond what is required.”
Kushner has had to revise his SF-86 form, technically the “Questionnaire For National Security Positions,” 39 times since he first submitted in March 9.
“Hopefully,” he concludes, “this puts these matters to rest.”
It’s unclear that it will. Monday’s meeting with the Senate is the result of a negotiation between Kushner’s attorneys and Senate Intelligence leaders. His testimony will not be under oath nor is it expected to be released to the general public.
Kushner will detail four meetings he had with Russians before his father-in-law was sworn in to office, yet will insist they were all part of his normal job functions.
In his statement, the Post notes, “Kushner portrays himself as a goal-oriented task master new to presidential politics who assumed increasingly important responsibilities on a fast-paced campaign in which decisions were made ‘on the fly,’ including serving as the main point of contact for foreign government officials.”
In one embarrassing portion Kushner states after joining the June 9 meeting with a Russian attorney and other Russians, arranged by Donald Trump Jr., he had to ask someone to call him to get him out of the meeting:
I arrived at the meeting a little late. When I got there, the person who has since been identified as a Russian attorney was talking about the issue of a ban on U.S. adoptions of Russian children. I had no idea why that topic was being raised and quickly determined that my time was not well-spent at this meeting. Reviewing emails recently confirmed my memory that the meeting was a waste of our time and that, in looking for a polite way to leave and get back to my work, I actually emailed an assistant from the meeting after I had been there for ten or so minutes and wrote “Can u pls call me on my cell? Need excuse to get out of meeting.” I had not met the attorney before the meeting nor spoken with her since.Â
Kushner claims he did not read that email, titled, “Russia ― Clinton ― private and confidential.” It “was on top of a long back and forth that I did not read at the time,” he says.
And yet, clearly he believed the meeting was about getting dirt in Hillary Clinton from a foreign power, as the subject of the email suggested, and when it isn’t offered, he found a way to get an excuse to get out of the meeting that “was a waste” of his time.