Jared Kushner under FBI scrutiny in Russia probe: reports

Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, has reportedly come under scrutiny in the FBI’s investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The FBI’s focus on Kushner does not necessarily mean he is suspected of a crime, nor is he considered a subject of the bureau’s wider Russia probe in the same manner as national security adviser Michael Flynn, NBC News reported.

Instead, investigators are looking into meetings that Kushner had with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak and a Russian banking executive late last year during the presidential transition, The Washington Post reported.

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The Post reported last week that the law enforcement investigation into Russian election meddling had identified a current White House official as a person of interest, though the identity of that person was not revealed at the time.

Kushner is among Trump’s most influential aides in the White House and has been tasked by the president with a sweeping agenda in his administration.

The revelation that Kushner is being looked at as part of the Russia investigation comes little more than two weeks after Trump abruptly fired FBI Director James Comey, who was charged with overseeing the probe, at the time.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein last week appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the investigation. Separately, at least four congressional committees are conducting their own probes into the matter.

While the FBI, so far, has focused on figures like Flynn and former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, Kushner is the first known current White House official to fall under scrutiny.

The Democratic National Committee, which was the target of computer hacking last summer believed to be tied to Russia, called on the White House to suspend Kushner’s security clearance.

“The FBI’s Russia investigation reached Trump’s backyard, and now it’s in his house,” DNC deputy communications director Adrienne Watson said in a statement Thursday. “Kushner’s security clearance should be suspended until the FBI’s findings are complete.”