US officials worried China was using business interests to influence Kushner: report

Some U.S. intelligence officials were reportedly worried that China was trying to sway the opinions of White House senior adviser Jared Kushner by utilizing his business interests.

The New Yorker reported Saturday that U.S. intelligence on Chinese communications indicated that President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser spoke with China’s ambassador to the U.S. about both policy and business ahead of an April 2017 summit.

The report, however, said the information gathered by officials “wasn’t conclusive,” noting China may have misrepresented the talks.

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“I never saw any indication that it was successful,” one former senior U.S. official told The New Yorker, discussing China’s attempts.

Still, the report noted that the intelligence on Chinese communications raised concerns that Beijing might be trying to capitalize on Kushner’s relationship with President Trump.

A spokesman for Kushner in a statement to the magazine denied that the president’s son-in-law talked to foreign officials about “personal or family business.”

“There was never a time—never—that Mr. Kushner spoke to any foreign officials, in the campaign, transition, and in the Administration, about any personal or family business. He was scrupulous in this regard,” the spokesman said.