CNN reports exclusively that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is taking a closer look at Jared Kushner's interactions with foreign investors.
Mueller's investigators have been asking questions, including during interviews in January and February, about Kushner's conversations during the transition to shore up financing for 666 Fifth Avenue, a Kushner Companies-backed New York City office building reeling from financial troubles ...
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A week after Trump's election, Kushner met with the chairman and other executives of Anbang Insurance, the Chinese conglomerate that also owns the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York, according to The New York Times.
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Mueller's team has also asked about Kushner's dealings with a Qatari investor regarding the same property, according to one of the sources.
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Also during the transition, Kushner met with Sergey Gorkov, chairman of Russian state-run Vnesheconombank. Kushner testified on Capitol Hill that the meeting was for official US government purposes. But the Russian bank maintains that the sit-down in New York was part of their "roadshow of business meetings" and that Gorkov met Kushner because he ran Kushner Companies.
CNN notes that Trump's former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, who has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the special counsel, was present at some of Kushner's meetings with foreign nationals.
Last fall, Kushner turned over documents pertaining to the campaign and transition to both Mueller and congressional investigators, sources told CNN in November. Kushner spoke to investigators in November for less than two hours, and the dominant topic was Michael Flynn, according to two people familiar with the meeting who spoke to CNN at the time.
Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and is cooperating with the investigation, attended some of Kushner's meetings with foreign nationals. Under his plea deal, Flynn is obligated to tell Mueller's investigators everything he knows about these meetings.
CNN also raises the prospect that President Trump could try to fight back against Mueller's line of inquiry even though the special counsel legally is allowed to chase down any lead stemming from the primary Russia investigation.
Last year, Trump said he would view any investigation of his or his family's personal finances as a "violation" by Mueller that crosses a red line. A personal familiar with the investigation who supports Trump suggested that the expanded inquiry falls outside of Mueller's purview. Mueller is authorized to investigate links between Trump associates and Russia as well as "any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation."
Exclusive: Mueller's interest in Kushner grows to include foreign financing efforts (CNN)