Jared Kushner hid dozens of meetings with Russians from his application for top-secret security clearance
Kushner failed to report dozens of contacts with foreign leaders. His lawyer argues Kushner simply forgot
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Jared Kushner, the White House’s key diplomat and business innovator, did not disclose dozens of encounters with foreign leaders when he applied for top-secret security clearance, The New York Times reported Thursday.
Seeking access to the country’s best-kept secrets, the president’s son-in-law was required to report all contacts he had with foreign government officials in the past seven years. However, Kushner omitted dozens of meetings, including with Russian ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak and Sergey Gorkov, the head of Russia’s state-owned Vnesheconombank. The Senate Intelligence Committee informed the White House two weeks ago that it sought to question Kushner on these meetings.
U.S. officials can lose access to intelligence if they fail to disclose foreign contacts, although the forms are often allowed to be amended to correct any gaps.
Kushner’s lawyer, Jamie Gorelick, is calling the omissions an error. Gorelick said that Kushner simply submitted the forms prematurely and immediately requested the opportunity to provide additional information.