President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has been drafted to serve as a senior White House adviser, is at the center of an FBI investigation of alleged ties between Russia and the Trump campaign, ABC News reported Thursday night, citing Kushner’s attorney Jamie Gorelick. Kushner has consented to talk to investigators about meetings he had with Russian officials last December.
Gorelick issued a statement saying, “Mr Kushner previously volunteered to share with Congress what he knows about these meetings. He will do the same if he is contacted in connection with any other inquiry.”
According to the Washington Post, Kushner is being investigated over his meetings – in December and possibly on other occasions – with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak and Russian banker Sergey Gorkov.
Apparently, when the news broke recently about the FBI identifying a “person of interest” inside President Trump’s White House, they were referring to Kushner.
Jared Kushner was born in Livingston, New Jersey, in 1981, son of Seryl (née Stadtmauer) and real-estate developer Charles Kushner. His paternal grandparents were Holocaust survivors. The Kushner household was Modern Orthodox, and he graduated from a coed yeshiva high school and went on to Harvard College.
A formative event in Jared’s life was when his Father, Charles, in 2004, was arrested on charges of tax evasion, illegal campaign donations, and witness tampering. The prosecutor was then US Attorney Chris Christie, later the governor of New Jersey and a Trump cabinet member wannabe. Charles Kushner was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison. But Christie, in needless cruelty, added a witness-tampering charge, exposing a humiliating move by Jared’s father, who retaliated against William Schulder, his sister Esther’s husband, who was cooperating with federal investigators. Kushner hired a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law, arranged to record an encounter between the two, and sent the tape of the episode sent to his sister.
Needless to say, more than a decade later, when Jared Kushner had the new president’s ear, Christie’s dreams of a White House career were shattered.
Jared Kushner married Ivanka Trump in a Jewish ceremony on October 25, 2009. Her conversion and their Modern Orthodox lifestyle have been celebrated by the Jewish media around the globe (most notably regarding the curious heterim-permissions granted them regarding their observance of Shabbat while following the President.
according to 2017 federal disclosures, Jared and Ivanka Kushner are worth at least $740 million.
Kushner has played a key role in managing and coordinating President Trump’s recent trip abroad, as well as his ongoing contacts with foreign leaders. He has also been sent frequently to represent the President with foreign government officials.