It's called lying...

Newly Released Transcript Shows Jared Kushner Misled Congress About a Contact Involving Russia

Kushner downplayed ties to a friend acting as a backchannel to Russia in House testimony.

DAN FRIEDMAN

While President Trump uses Attorney General William Barr to try to erase the story of his 2016 campaign’s contacts with Russia, information showing that Trump insiders stonewalled or misled investigators probing the Trump-Russia scandal continues to emerge.

Last week, the House Intelligence Committee released a transcript of a once behind-closed-doors interview with Jared Kushner in which Trump’s son-in-law evaded a question about his relationship with Rick Gerson, a New York hedge-fund manager and a longtime friend of Kushner. In a curious move, Kushner downplayed his link to Gerson, who in late 2016 and early 2017, due to his connection to Kushner, was mixed up in secretive contacts between the incoming Trump administration, the United Arab Emirates, and Russia—a weird series of actions that were investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Here’s what happened. On July 25, 2017, Kushner had a private interview with the House Intelligence Committee, which then was controlled by Republicans and running a less-than-vigorous investigation of the Trump-Russia scandal. During the three hours session, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the panel’s top Democrat, asked Kushner about a December 2016 meeting he attended in Manhattan’s Four Season’s hotel with the effective ruler of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, known as MBZ. This meeting, also, attended Trump advisers Steve Bannon and Michael Flynn, later drew notice because the Emiratis attempted to meet with the Trump crew without alerting the Obama administration. And investigators were interested in the UAE contacts because in January 2017 the UAE arranged a secret meeting in the Seychelles between a Russian sovereign wealth fund manager and Erik Prince, an informal Trump campaign adviser and the founder of the controversial Blackwater security firm. Prince is the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

Regarding the Four Seasons’ meeting, Schiff asked Kushner, “Were there any other parties at the meeting other than the representatives from the UAE, yourself, Mr. Bannon, Mr. Flynn?”

“I can recall one person, yes,” Kushner said: “A guy Rick Gerson.”

“And what was his status?” Schiff asked. “Why was he at the meeting?”

“I think he’s a friend of Sheikh Muhammad,” Kushner said, referring to MBZ. Kushner added that Gerson came to the meeting as part of the UAE delegation.

Kushner’s description of Gerson was misleading at best. He was far more than merely “a guy.” According to Mueller’s final report, Gerson was a longtime pal of Kushner and an informal Trump campaign adviser who worked during the presidential transition “arranging meetings” for Kushner. This included the including the December meeting with MBZ and the Emirati delegation. By calling Gerson just a “guy” Kushner held back a crucial piece of information: Gerson was essentially a Kushner operative who was also working for the UAE.

As the New York Times explained back in 2018, “Mr. Kushner has been friends for more than a decade with Mr. Gerson’s brother Mark, a founder of the specialized research company Gerson Lehrman Group. Mark Gerson was also an early investor in Cadre, a real estate technology company founded by Mr. Kushner and his brother, Josh.”