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United States President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, a senior White House adviser, is willing to cooperate with federal investigators looking into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign, his attorney says.
Key points:
- White House adviser Jared Kushner is being investigated for meetings in December and other interactions with Russians
- The interest does not mean Mr Kushner is suspected of a crime, officials told NBC News
- Mr Kushner's attorney says he will cooperate with the investigation
The statement from attorney Jamie Gorelick was issued amid reports the FBI was investigating meetings Kushner had in December with Russian officials.
"Mr Kushner previously volunteered to share with Congress what he knows about these meetings. He will do the same if he is contacted in connection with any other inquiry," the statement said.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the House oversight committee has asked the FBI to turn over more documents about former FBI director James Comey's interactions with the White House and Justice Department, including materials dating back nearly four years to the Obama administration.
Mr Kushner is being investigated because of his meetings in December and other possible interactions with the Russian ambassador and a banker from Moscow, the Post reported, citing people familiar with the investigation.
Mr Kushner had meetings late last year with Russia's ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak, and Russian banker Sergey Gorkov.
It is not known whether Mr Kushner has received any requests from the FBI for records, NBC News said.
Mr Kushner is the only current White House official known to be considered a key person in the probe, the newspaper reported.
The FBI and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The US intelligence community concluded in January that Moscow tried to sway the November vote in Mr Trump's favour.
Russia has denied involvement and Mr Trump insists he won fair and square.
Mr Kushner has played a key role in coordinating Mr Trump's contact with foreign leaders and has been talking with foreign government officials himself.
He has been by Mr Trump's side for much of the President's tour of the Middle East.
FBI declines request for Comey memos
House oversight committee chairman Jason Chaffetz told acting FBI director Andrew McCabe that he wanted records of Mr Comey's contacts with the White House and Justice Department dating to September 2013, when Mr Comey was sworn in as FBI director under president Barack Obama.
In a letter to Mr McCabe, Mr Chaffetz said he was seeking to review Mr Comey's memos and other written materials so he could "better understand" Mr Comey's communications with the White House and attorney-general's office.
Mr Chaffetz previously requested Mr Comey's recent memos about his private contacts with Mr Trump.
But the bureau told him it could not yet turn them over because of Mr Mueller's probe.
Mr Chaffetz, who said last week he had his "subpoena pen" ready to force Mr Comey or the FBI to turn over the documents, told Mr McCabe that "Congress and the American public have a right and a duty to examine this issue independently of the special counsel's investigation".
He added, in a thinly-veiled threat: "I trust and hope you understand this and make the right decision to produce these documents to the committee immediately and on a voluntary basis."
Mr Chaffetz's letter comes a month before he is scheduled to leave office after abruptly announcing his resignation earlier this year.
He cancelled a hearing scheduled for Wednesday after Mr Comey declined to testify.
A timeline of events
On Tuesday it was revealed that White House national security adviser Michael Flynn would plead the fifth amendment by refusing to hand over documents to the Senate panel.
Last week Mr Trump came under fire for allegedly sharing national security information with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
He was already facing controversy over the firing of FBI director MrComey, who was overseeing the probe into Russia's connections with the 2016 campaign.
Mr Trump was forced to defend the action as Democrats intensified accusations that the ousting was intended to undermine the probe into his presidential campaign's possible collusion with Russia to sway the election.
Former FBI director Robert Mueller was then appointed last week as a special counsel to oversee the federal investigation.
Mr Mueller was FBI chief for 12 years, serving under Republican George W Bush and Democrat Barack Obama.
He also worked alongside Mr Comey.
Mr Trump slammed the appointment of Mr Mueller, complaining that "no politician in history" has been treated worse by his foes and declaring the probe, "the single greatest witch hunt in US history".
Mr Comey will testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee next after the May 29 Memorial Day holiday and will be asked about encounters that precipitated his firing.
Mr Comey has alleged Mr Trump had asked him to shut down an investigation into Mr Flynn.
ABC/wires
Topics: donald-trump, world-politics, united-states
First posted