Is Jared Kushner Setting Up ‘Chump’ Defense In Russia Scandal?
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Is Jared Kushner’s best defense in the ever-expanding Russia scandal to portray himself as a hapless neophyte?
Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University law school, said Kushner added little new with his appearance before the Senate Intelligence Committee — but sought to make the best of a bad situation.
“At best, these meetings make Kushner and others look like chumps,” Turley said. “They may be forced to argue they were ham-handed chumps.”
Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and a senior White House adviser, told Senate investigators on Monday he had met with Russian officials four times last year but said he did not collude with Moscow to influence the 2016 U.S. election.
A businessman like Trump, Kushner portrayed himself as new to politics when he became a top adviser to Trump’s campaign. Frantic fielding of phone calls and emails made his recollections of some meetings somewhat hazy, he said.
Two sources with knowledge of what Kushner told the Senate staff said the session was pleasant and conversational and that there may be another interview.
Kushner did not initially disclose any meetings with Russians on forms he filed to get a government security clearance for his work in the White House. He has since revised those forms several times.—Reuters
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