John McCain Slams Jared Kushner’s Likely Talks With Russian Ambassador, Will Other Republicans Follow Suit?

Reports about Jared Kushner allegedly discussing setting up a secret communication channel with Russia have left Arizona Sen. John McCain unhappy. In an interview with Australian television ABC News on Monday, McCain said he simply did not like Kushner’s possible ties to Russia.

Axios noted McCain’s criticism on Kushner could lead to other GOP leaders also coming out to slam the senior adviser’s ties with Russia. Republicans have not shied away from criticizing Trump and his administration on various policies — including those on refugees, immigration ban and the president's failure to release his tax returns.

Read: Will Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump Leave The White House?

On Kushner, a May 26 report by the Washington Post said Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak told his superiors in Moscow that Donald Trump’s senior adviser discussed establishing a secret communications channel between the Trump transition team and the Kremlin. The contents of the report did not go down well with McCain, who has been criticizing the administration's alleged ties with Russia.

"I don't like it, I just don't," McCain told ABC News. "I know that some administration officials are saying 'well, that's standard procedure.' I don't think it's standard procedure prior to the inauguration of the president of the United States by someone who is not in an appointed position. And I think that [former FBI Director James] Comey we now know took action that he did in regards to then-candidate [Hillary] Clinton because of some false news that was being put out by the Russians. I mean, this becomes more and more bizarre. In fact, you can't make it up."

Kushner is also a focus of the FBI’s investigation into the Russia probe. The federal authorities are concentrating on his meeting with Kislyak and a Russian banking executive last December.

The Senate Intelligence Committee was reportedly keen on interviewing Kushner.

"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," Jamie Gorelick, Kushner's lawyer and a veteran of the Clinton-era Department of Justice, said in a statement, CBS News reported May 25.

While, Kushner’s attorney said the Trump aide would cooperate with the investigation, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) called for the suspension of his security clearance.

“The FBI’s Russia investigation reached Trump’s backyard, and now it’s in his house,” DNC deputy communications director Adrienne Watson reportedly said. “Kushner’s security clearance should be suspended until the FBI’s findings are complete.”

Trump and his administration has been a target of other Republicans in the past.

"This is ridiculous. I guess I understand what his intention is, but unfortunately the order appears to have been rushed through without full consideration. You know, there are many, many nuances of immigration policy that can be life or death for many innocent, vulnerable people around the world," Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pennsylvania) reportedly said in January after Trump signed an executive order to temporarily ban immigration from seven Muslim-majority nations.

While, this is the first time Kushner was slammed by a Republican, fellow GOP leader and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham cast a doubt on reports targeting the White House senior adviser.

“I don't trust this story as far as I can throw it,” Graham told CNN on Sunday. “I think it makes no sense that the Russian ambassador would report back to Moscow on a channel that he most likely knows we’re monitoring. The whole story line is suspicious."