Jared Kushner met earlier this month with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team as part of the investigation into Russia’s meddling in the election, according to two people familiar with the meeting.
Mueller’s team specifically asked Kushner about former national security advisor Michael Flynn, who is under investigation by the special counsel, two sources said. Flynn was the dominant topic of the conversation, one of the sources said.
“Mr. Kushner has voluntarily cooperated with all relevant inquiries and will continue to do so,” Abbe Lowell, Kushner’s lawyer, told CNN.
The conversation lasted less than 90 minutes, one person familiar with the meeting said, adding that Mueller’s team asked Kushner to clear up some questions he was asked by lawmakers and details that emerged through media reports. One source said the nature of this conversation was principally to make sure Kushner doesn’t have information that exonerates Flynn.
The meeting took place around the same time the special counsel asked witnesses about Kushner’s role in the firing of former FBI Director James Comey and his relationship with Flynn, these people said.
It’s not clear that this is the only time that Kushner will meet with the special counsel’s team.
There are growing indications that the special counsel is having discussions with Flynn about a possible plea deal. Flynn’s attorney told Trump’s legal team last week that he would no longer share information about the investigation.
The White House declined to comment for this story. The special counsel’s office did not comment.
Mueller’s investigators have expressed interest in Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and a White House senior adviser, as part of its probe into Russian meddling, including potential obstruction of justice in Comey’s firing, sources familiar with the matter said.
Even before Mueller took over the Russia investigation, the FBI had been looking at Kushner’s multiple roles on both the Trump campaign and the Trump transition team. The 2016 Trump Tower meeting, in addition to meetings with Russia’s ambassador and a Russian government banker, were left off Kushner’s security clearance forms, which had to be revised multiple times.
Other points of focus that pertain to Kushner include the Trump campaign’s 2016 data analytics operation, his relationship with Flynn and Kushner’s own contacts with Russians, according to sources briefed on the probe.
Kushner voluntarily turned over documents he had from the campaign and the transition, and these related to any contacts with Russia, according to a source familiar with the matter. The documents are similar to the ones Kushner gave to congressional investigators.
Their questions about Kushner signal that Mueller’s investigators are reaching the President’s inner circle and have extended beyond the 2016 campaign to actions taken at the White House by high-level officials. It is not clear how Kushner’s advice to the President might relate to the overall Russia investigation or potential obstruction of justice.