Thread: It’s becoming increasingly clear that Jared Kushner is part of Trump’s Russia problem

It’s becoming increasingly clear that Jared Kushner is part of Trump’s Russia problem


Updated by Dara Linddara@vox.com May 20, 2017, 9:20am EDT


Photo by Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty ImagesJared Kushner: the young, pragmatic, hardheaded businessman out to modernize the US government and moderate the worst tendencies of his father-in-law — Donald Trump.

But what if, instead, Jared is not a panacea for the chaotic White House, but one of its biggest problems?

As the Trump administration’s been sent into a death spiral over the firing of FBI Director James Comey last week — a failed move to curtail the Justice Department investigation into contact between his campaign and the Russian government — Kushner hasn’t been the “adult in the room” urging caution and scrupulousness. To the contrary, he’s been urging aggression and retaliation.

And the White House’s reaction to the appointment of Robert Mueller as a special counsel in the Russia inquiry, including a possible attempt to use ethics rules to limit the scope of his investigation, shows that somebody in the White House is deeply worried about what might happen if Kushner were included in the probe.

As Trump deals with scandals surrounding his former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn and his former campaign manager Paul Manafort, now the family businessman could have another problem right inside his own house.

Kushner’s getting mighty antsy about special counsel Robert Mueller

It was surprising enough, to people who had bought into the narrative that Kushner (and wife Ivanka Trump) were steadying influences on the president, that he hadn’t warned Trump not to fire FBI director James Comey — a move that anyone could have predicted would blow up in the administration’s face. (In fact, Kushner appears to have been “generally supportive” of the firing, according to the New York Times.)

By now, though, it’s clear that Kushner (at least sometimes) is the person who wants to lash out at the investigators. Here’s what happened (according to reports from the New York Times) when the Trump administration found out that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had appointed Mueller as a special counsel to lead the Trump/Russia probe:

Most of those gathered recommended that the president adopt a conciliatory stance and release a statement accepting Mr. Rosenstein’s decision and embracing a swift investigation that would clear the cloud of suspicion hovering over the West Wing.

Mr. Kushner — who had urged Mr. Trump to fire Mr. Comey — was one of the few dissenting voices, urging the president to counterattack, according to two senior administration officials.

After a brief discussion, however, calmer heads prevailed, and Mr. Trump’s staff huddled over a computer just outside the Oval Office to draft the statement that was ultimately released, asserting the president’s innocence and determination to move on.

Trump’s eventual statement was actually much less conciliatory than prior presidents have been. Yet Kushner wanted it to be even harsher — despite the existing concerns about independence at the Department of Justice.

It’s also interesting that, according to Reuters’ Julia Edwards Ainsley, the White House is considering trying to hobble Mueller — using a regulation barring Mueller from investigating anyone his former law firm had represented. In practice, that would be Kushner and former campaign head Paul Manafort.

Legal experts said the ethics rule can be waived by the Justice Department, which appointed Mueller. He did not represent Kushner or Manafort directly at his former law firm.

If the department did not grant a waiver, Mueller would be barred from investigating Kushner or Manafort, and this could greatly diminish the scope of the probe, experts said.

For all the reporting that President Trump is still deeply committed to Mike Flynn, this proposed “solution” to the Mueller investigation wouldn’t protect Flynn. It would protect Manafort, who has been out of the Trump family’s orbit for quite some time. And it would protect Kushner.

Kushner’s closely connected to Mike Flynn — and fairly connected to Russia

What could Kushner be so worried about?

He does appear to have been relatively close to the disgraced Flynn.

According to at least one report (from NBC News’ Peter Alexander), he and Ivanka Trump were the ones who assured Flynn he could get the job of National Security Advisor — at a meeting at Trump Tower after the election, Alexander said, Ivanka Trump and Kushner told Flynn that his “loyalty” to the family would be rewarded.

Kushner also accompanied Flynn to his meeting with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition period — part of the pattern of contacts between Flynn and Kislyak that Flynn subsequently lost his job for lying about. Kushner, however, also arranged subsequent meetings with Kislyak and other Russian officials — and the White House didn’t disclose those at the time, either.

Kushner’s meetings with Russian officials were enough to bring him onto the radar of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s Trump/Russia probe, which is questioning all Trumpworld figures who had contacts with Russia. And his failure to disclose all of those meetings — evenwhen applying for a security clearance — has raised some eyebrows (Democratic Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) has called for Kushner’s clearance to be stripped.)

At least one figure within the Trump White House saw Kushner’s contacts with Russia as a disaster waiting to happen for the administration: Steve Bannon. During a power struggle between Kushner and Bannon in early April, the Times reported that “Mr. Bannon has told confidants that he believes Mr. Kushner’s contact with Russians, and his expected testimony before Congress on the subject, will become a major distraction for the White House.”

Kushner won the power struggle. Perhaps Bannon’s warnings about Kushner and Russia were discarded as just an attempt to weaken a rival (which, in part, they almost certainly were). But in retrospect, it’s becoming clear that Bannon wasn’t wrong.

The idea that Kushner was some sort of moderating influence on Donald Trump was always more than a little overblown — there was never much evidence that Trump was being moderated. What’s becoming clear, though, is that Kushner isn’t just incapable of stopping the president’s intemperance or preventing his ethical lapses — and that he’s not simply a businessman trying to maximize his own profits, either.

If Kushner has, or is, a Russia problem, that means that the current investigations go to the beating family heart of the Trump White House. That could set up a very, very nasty fight indeed.

https://www.vox.com/2017/5/20/156681...sia-corruption

He does appear to have been relatively close to the disgraced Flynn.

Whoa!! Flynn is not disgraced. Who said that? No one has ever said that before. Flynn hasn't done anything to disgrace himself. The only thing Flynn dd wrong was talk to the media while the President was trying to deal with the scandal of someone spying on Flynn, unmasking him, and releasing it to the press. If Flynn had just said "no comment at this time" to the Daily Caller, the evening before Trump had had it with these press stories emanating from Flynn talking to the press, Flynn would be our National Security Advisor. There may have been policy differences and disputes down the road because Flynn saw things a little differently than the "establishment", but I'm not sure that would have been a bad thing, probably a good thing to bring in the new way for a new day. I'm sorry Flynn is in the situation he is in, I'm sad he's not still in the administration in some capacity.

Just my two cents.

Originally Posted by Judy

Whoa!! Flynn is not disgraced. Who said that? No one has ever said that before . . .

Disgraced Michael Flynn Seeks Immunity | HuffPost - Huffington Post (VIDEO at link.)

Disgraced Michael Flynn Seeks Immunity. President Donald Trump's former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn is seeking immunity from prosecution in ...



President Trump accused of 'covering up' for disgraced Michael Flynn

Apr 27, 2017 - Why is the White House covering up for Michael Flynn? That's what the House Oversight Committee is asking. Nathan Rousseau Smith ...


Disgraced Trump adviser Mike Flynn admits he worked as a “foreign ...

Mar 9, 2017 - Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who was fired in February after lying about his contacts with the Russian government, has ...

Oh okay, so Vox, Huff Post and USA Today .... well, I think that says it all about that.

General Flynn has done nothing to "disgrace" himself or anyone else. Getting fired or being asked to resign to try to quiet MEDIA ATTACKS because the government under a previous administration spied on you illegally and then released select information about your private phone calls illegally does not a disgrace of you make, the disgrace is the government officials still roaming free as birds who violated your 4th Amendment rights, compromised a new foreign policy with Russia, and released classified information to the press.

Flynn is a victim of the national disgrace of an illegal surveillance program spying on US citizens for political purposes.

One of the many many problems with the DemoQuacks is the only free speech and due process they want to protect is their own.

Americans, throw these bums out of the US government. Vote Republican in 2018 across the board and give this truly special and unique President the full support and fair chance he deserves to fix our country, bring our jobs home, make peace with Russia, and make our country great again!!

Judy wrote (excerpt):

Oh okay, so Vox, Huff Post and USA Today .... well, I think that says it all about that.

Facts are facts regardless of who is reporting them. It is a fact that Gen. Flynn did seek immunity for his testimony. It is also a fact that he admitted working as a lobbyist for the Turkish government.

Excerpt:

"When you are given immunity, that means you probably committed a crime,” Flynn, then an aide on Donald Trump's presidential campaign, said on Meet the Press in September 2016, the Washington Post reports.

http://time.com/4720420/michael-flyn...ongress-crime/

Well, so what? He has the absolute right to request immunity to testify in any witch hunt hearing, especially when the FBI has already told him he's under federal investigation for something, for what, we don't know, but whatever it is, it's apparently not earth-shattering or anywhere close to charges or he'd already be charged. He also has the absolute right to represent foreign governments in the United States. Ask any of the thousands of Americans who make their living representing foreign governments and foreign entities in the United States.

So far the only infraction Mike Flynn has committed which is one committed all the time by these consulting and PR firms is not registering Turkey as an additional client when he registered the Dutch company he actually signed the contract with and was paid by. This Turkey thing came up as a sideline to that, and his lawyer when reviewing it said, "oh, you better also register Turkey on that one", so he did and disclosed it to the press. Turkey is an ally, so not sure what the big stink is over this to begin with. But a "disgrace"?

There's no "disgrace" in asking for immunity in a Congressional witch hunt hearing and certainly no "disgrace" representing a foreign government or a foreign entity in the United States. There's certainly no law against it, either.

But hey, keep the Leftie War Machine against Trump and his people coming, it's good for dialogue!

Originally Posted by Judy

. . . There's no "disgrace" in asking for immunity in a Congressional witch hunt hearing and certainly no "disgrace" representing a foreign government or a foreign entity in the United States. There's certainly no law against it, either. . . .

I disgrace is in losing his new job in 23 days.

There's no disgrace in being fired to try to move MEDIA ATTACKS off a new Presidency the media is trying to take down. No disgrace at all. Trump did what he thought he had to do to end the story and get attention back on his agenda. Flynn like a good person resigned. Flynn didn't want the job to begin with. He certainly didn't need it and had to sacrifice his business to take the job which cost him a lot of money.

I realize that for some, a job in the "Gubbermint" is Nirvana. For most people, especially those with businesses, it's not. It's a huge pain in the ass. I'm actually surprised to see that you and MW are part of the "some".

Judy wrote (excerpt):

I realize that for some, a job in the "Gubbermint" is Nirvana. For most people, especially those with businesses, it's not. It's a huge pain in the ass. I'm actually surprised to see that you and MW are part of the "some".

Hmm, when you see that you can't actually argue against the facts, you just lob a stink bomb. Nothing new here.

My response on this thread was nothing but known fact.

My response on this thread was nothing but known fact.

When you call someone "disgraced", that is an opinion, not a fact. You and JohnDoe2 think being fired is a "disgrace". You and JohnDoe2 think that requesting immunity for voluntary testimony when you're under federal investigation is a "disgrace". I don't think either one is a disgrace.