President Donald Trump realized that being president is not an easy job very early in his term. There are so many things to attend to and many protocols to follow. Issues keep following him left and right. Right now, his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who is married to his daughter Ivanka, is under the scrutiny of the FBI. Jared Kushner is one of Mr. Trump’s senior advisers.
The FBI scrutiny is related to the ongoing investigation regarding the possible involvement of Russia in the 2016 presidential elections. It was known that Jared Kushner had meetings with a banker from Moscow and the Russian ambassador in December 2016. The nature and degree of Kushner’s interactions with the people from Moscow is what led to the probe.
Officials say that this does not necessarily mean that he will be charged or he’s being made a suspect. At this stage, they want the information that he holds.
Jared Kushner is a Person of Interest
A media report came out last week that there is a “person of interest” related to the case, who was said to be a senior official at the White House. The report mentioned that the person was close to President Trump. This report led to the scrutiny. However, the FBI probe on Jared Kushner is not on the same level as the one on Michael Flynn, former national security adviser and Paul Manafort, former Trump campaign chairman.
It is not yet clear what activities of Kushner led to the FBI’s interest in him. What is known is that the agency is continuing the investigation on the alleged collusion of Trump’s associates with the Russians in an effort to hinder the U.S. presidential race last year. Leading the investigation is Robert Mueller, former FBI director. He’s acting as special counsel of the agency after Trump’s recent sacking of FBI Director James Comey.
The Bits and Pieces
The FBI has not released any comments on the said reports. Jared Kushner said that he is not aware that the FBI had placed him under scrutiny. U.S. officials and investigators share whatever pieces of information they know so far.
The probe of the FBI is focused mainly on Russia’s involvement in the last presidential election. Due to the nature of the investigation, the agency has to look at various angles and a variety of personalities that may have been involved in the case. They are looking at the multiple roles played by Kushner during the campaign and the transition team of Donald Trump.
The focus on Jared Kushner includes the data analytics operation during Trump’s campaign, his contacts with the Russians and his relationship with Michael Flynn.
It is not immediately known if the FBI will talk to Kushner. Investigators believe he can provide information and while he claims that he’s unaware of the FBI’s scrutiny, his attorney Jamie Gorelick said that her client would talk with the FBI if the agency asked.
The FBI already has data from computer bots, and investigators are analyzing the analytics operations. Kushner helped oversee the data operation contractors that ran the data-targeting program. The campaign pushed positive information on Trump and negative information on Clinton through social media sites. The agency is looking at Russia’s connection to the people who ran the campaign. They wanted to know if these people were used, with or without their knowledge, to aid the data targeting of Russia.
Jared Kushner holds a very enviable position in the White House. Undoubtedly, he’s the most trusted adviser of Mr. Trump. He also has many foreign policy responsibilities in his portfolio – the Middle East, China, Mexico and Canada.
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