Jared Kushner cooperating with Senate Intelligence Committee, may testify

Presidential advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner may wind up testifying in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee about his connection to Russian officials.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican who serves on the panel, said Monday that Kushner’s attorney is cooperating with the committee.

“We’re at the early stages of the discussion,” Collins said.

She said the typical pattern is for the 15-member panel to ask for relevant documents “to make sure we are very prepared,” then for the staff to talk to individuals such as Kushner in private and then to hold a hearing before the entire committee.

Kushner’s role has come into question since a Washington Post story on May 26 quoting anonymous sources that said Kushner proposed setting up a secret back channel communications system with the Russians that would have relied on Russian diplomatic facilities to exchange messages.

White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner, center, accompanied by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, right, smiles during a bilateral meeting between President Donald Trump and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington on Wednesday, May 31, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
AP