5 Questions for Jared Kushner About His Meeting with Sergey Gorkov.
Earlier this week, we learned that Jared Kushner met with Sergey Gorkov — Chairman of the Russian state development bank Vnesheconombank (VEB) — at some point in 2016. Because VEB is more than just a bank — and Mr. Gorkov is more than just a banker — the meeting raises several important questions relating to the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
VEB has been under U.S. sanctions since July 2014. In 2016, an employee of VEB’s Manhattan branch pleaded guilty in federal court to a criminal conspiracy charge. Gorkov, who was trained to work in Russia’s intelligence services, was appointed to run VEB by Russian President Vladimir Putin in early 2016.
The Senate Intelligence Committee announced this week that it would be meeting with Jared Kushner in the near future as part of its ongoing investigation of Russian meddling in the election. Here are five questions the committee may want to ask Kushner about that meeting with Mr. Gorkov.
1. When did the meeting with Sergey Gorkov take place?
The New York Times reported that Kushner’s meeting with Gorkov was the last in a series of three meetings with Russian officials in December 2016. Kushner first met with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, in early December 2016. Then, according to the Times, Kushner met with Gorkov somewhat later. Presumably, that meeting also occurred in December 2016.
After the Times’ reporting this week, VEB issued the following statement, “During 2016 the bank’s management repeatedly met with representatives of the world’s leading financial institutions in Europe, Asia, and America…including the head of Kushner Companies, Jared Kushner.”
VEB’s statement indicated that Kushner had talks with its executives during a roadshow about the bank’s new strategy. It’s not clear whether the roadshow occurred in December or some other time in 2016. Did such a meeting happen before or after the election? Was there more than one meeting? The Senate Intelligence Committee should insist on more details.
2. In what capacity did Kushner meet with Gorkov?
According to VEB’s statement, Jared Kushner met with bank executives in his role as “the head of Kushner Companies.” According to White House spokeswoman Hope Hicks, however, Kushner met with Gorkov as a member of the Trump transition team. His role, said Hicks, was to “serve as a chief conduit to foreign governments and officials.”
Senator Susan Collins, who sits on the Intelligence Committee, has noted the apparent contradiction here, saying “I’m sure that that will be an issue that we’ll try to clarify.” It’s likely VEB prefers to emphasize its role as a development bank. The committee will want to know if broader, foreign policy issues were raised.
3. What exactly was discussed at the meeting?
Hope Hicks said “nothing of much consequence” was discussed at the half-hour meeting. Hicks noted that Gorkov expressed “a desire for an open dialogue” and she added that, “it really wasn’t much of a conversation.”
Hicks also stated that the subject of sanctions did not come up. That’s rather hard to believe, so it’ll be important for the committee to ask about that specifically. It should also ask if the subject of the election was raised. Finally, because Kushner may have been acting on behalf of Kushner Companies, the committee should ask if the topic of his Manhattan office tower came up — Kushner has been looking for investors in the property located at 666 Fifth Avenue.
4. Did Kushner know details about Gorkov and VEB prior to the meeting?
It’s not against the law to meet with the chairman of a sanctioned bank, but clearly it would be a meeting that required sensitivity. What did Kushner know about VEB before the meeting?
Did Kushner know that Evgeny Buryakov, an employee of VEB, had pleaded guilty to conspiring against the United States in March 2016? Did Kushner know that Gorkov had been trained at the Federal Security Service (FSB) and is a close associate of Vladimir Putin?
Finally, given the concern over connections between the Trump team and Russia, did he ever think it would be unwise to take such a meeting?
5. Did anyone else from the Trump team know of the meeting beforehand?
The New York Times reports that the White House team was caught “off guard” by the revelation of the meeting with Gorkov. Did Kushner inform anyone on the team about the meeting? If so, who?
Hicks said that Kushner viewed the meeting as “inconsequential” and “it did not occur to him to mention them to senior staff members earlier.” If it was inconsequential, why take it at all, given the heightened scrutiny over Russian contacts?
If the meeting occurred at Trump Tower, how did Gorkov enter the building? Was it via the front entrance or some other way? Did Michael Flynn also participate in the meeting — either in person or via telephone?
Kushner may have viewed this meeting as being of “little consequence,” but surely he can understand why Americans have concerns about the security of their elections. Hopefully, he’ll have satisfactory answers to questions like these.
Opinions in PoliticsMeansPolitics.com are those of their authors, not the views of this website or its owners. Please support our independent journalism today so we can fight fake stories out there with real ones: Support.PoliticsMeansPolitics.com
