Trump’s Son-In-Law Denies Russia Collusion In US Election

 

President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner has said neither he nor any member of the Trump campaign colluded with “any foreign government” over the US election.

In a statement on Monday ahead of his appearance before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Kushner said he had four meetings with Russia officials during the 2016 campaign. The 36-year-old was in charge of the Trump campaign’s digital strategy.

The Senate, along with the House and a special counsel, are all investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Kushner, a senior adviser to president Trump, will appear before the Senate on Monday and then in the House on Tuesday.

The statement read: “I did not collude, nor know of anyone else in the campaign who colluded, with any foreign government.

“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. Hopefully, this puts these matters to rest.”

“With respect to my contacts with Russia or Russian representatives during the campaign, there were hardly any, perhaps four contacts with Russian representatives” both during the campaign and after, the statement added.

Kushner dismissed a report that he had a telephone conversation between April and November 2016 with former Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak, saying a “comprehensive review of my land line and cell phone records from the time does not reveal those calls.”

He also acknowledged attending a meeting on June 2016 at Trump Tower, between Trump Jr, campaign officials and Russians, saying he had no prior knowledge of the topic discussed and that it was “time not well-spent”.

“That email was on top of a long back and forth that I did not read at the time,” Kushner said in the statement. “As I did with most emails when I was working remotely, I quickly reviewed on my iPhone the relevant message that the meeting would occur at 4:00 PM at his office.”

“I actually emailed an assistant from the meeting after I had been there for 10 or so minutes and wrote ‘Can u pls call me on my cell? Need excuse to get out of meeting’.”

Mr Trump Jr said former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort was also at the meeting and that no compromising material on Mrs Clinton was provided.

The June 2016 meeting set up by Trump Jr., was only publicly revealed for the first time this month, and has raised questions over the willingness of Trump campaign officials to collaborate with the Russian government.

President Trump has described the Russia investigation as a “witch hunt”.