The attorney for senior White House aide Jared Kushner is blasting two long-time Republican and Democratic senators for creating a “media event” with their public complaint that Mr. Kushner failed to turn over all pertinent emails.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, Iowa Republican, and ranking member Sen. Dianne Feinstein, California Democrat, released a letter on Thursday with a headline line, “Missing Documents.”
Responded Abbe Lowell, Mr. Kushner’s attorney, “They are not missing at all.”
His letter underscores growing friction between the committee and President Trump’s son-in-law. The senators want Mr. Kushner’s SF-86 security clearance application — a request scoffed at by Mr. Lowell as not material. The panel also requested phone and White House records which Mr. Lowell says are controlled by the executive branch, not his client.
Mr. Kushner, an investor and land developer, worked on the presidential campaign as a liaison to foreign diplomats. Mr. Trump has handed him the daunting task of trying to forge Middle East peace.
Mr. Lowell chastised the senators for blindsiding him. He is in the process of negotiating with committee staff after Mr. Kushner turned over a stack of campaign emails last month.
“I have to start by express my surprise and disappointment that I first read about and saw the actual contents of your letter from reporters,” Mr. Lowell wrote. “I would have assumed that, if there were any questions about our production or exchanges, that would have been communicated to me directly before you made this a media event.”
Mr. Lowell’s three-page letter then addressed three email threads that Sens. Grassley and Feinstein say are “missing.” The threads were provided by other Trump associates.
One was an email about WikiLeaks, the vehicle by which Russian intelligence released thousands of Democratic Party emails during the campaign. That act amounted to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most brazen act of election interference.
Mr. Lowell said Mr. Kushner had no contact whatsoever with the anti-secrecy group. He said his client simply forwarded an email from Donald Trump Jr. that the committee already possesses. “There is no new document concerning Mr. Kushner,” Mr. Lowell said, adding Mr. Kushner did not respond.
A second committee-requested email chain has to do with Sergei Millian. He is a Belarus-born U.S. citizen who orbited around the Trump Organization. Some media reports say he was a source for the unverified Trump-Russia dossier that has captivated Washington.
The thread which included Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, Mr. Millian and a news reporter was copied to Mr. Kushner.
Mr. Lowell said that Mr. Millian in the email confirms that “Mr. Millian has no relationship with the president.”
The email is not about any contacts Mr. Kushner had, Mr. Lowell said, adding, “But we can provide another copy of that email as well.”
A third email request is titled in the senators’ letter as “Russian back door overture and dinner invite.”
The communication is a lengthy thread centered on a National Rifle Association May 2016 campaign event in Kentucky attended by Putin ally and banker Alexander Torshin. Donald Trump Jr. sat next to Mr. Torshin, according to Bloomberg.
This was before any contact with any Russian became radioactive for Trump people. The next month, news broke that Moscow had hacked the Democrats and stolen data.
A theme of Mr. Trump’s campaign was better relations with Russia and Mr. Putin, whom he deemed a “stronger” leader than Barack Obama.
Mr. Torshin suggested a Trump trip to Moscow at some point.
The email shows Mr. Kushner rejected the idea. “For now I think we decline such meetings,” he wrote. “Most likely people then go back home and claim they have special access to gain importance for themselves. Be careful.”
Mr. Lowell’s letter said the committee already possesses that exchange.
“His advice was sound and clearly indicates that he was not seeking any such contacts with Russia (or anyone else),” Mr. Lowell said. “You can see there would be no reason for us not to provide such a clear expression that Mr. Kushner had no contacts with, nor was in collusion with, nor was pursuing any such relationship with Russia …. Again, you seem to have this exchange and know what he said, but we are glad to provide another copy.”
Mr. Kushner has spent hours testifying before the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. Mr. Lowell has suggested the Judiciary Committee obtain the transcripts before deciding if Mr. Kushner needs to appear.
All three committees are investigating Russian election interference. Special Counsel Robert Mueller is heading a criminal probe.
• Rowan Scarborough can be reached at rscarborough@washingtontimes.com.
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