Why Jared Kushner Will Meet Senate Intelligence Committee Amid FBI’s Russia Probe

Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner is expected to meet the Senate Intelligence Committee sometime this month, NBC News and CNN reported Thursday. Kushner, who is President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, grabbed headlines last month after reports said he was a focus of investigation in the FBI’s Russia probe.

It remains unclear at the moment when Kushner will meet the committee, which expects him to provide documents and face questions from the senators, NBC News, which first broke the news, reported. The committee is probing whether Russia tried to meddle in the 2016 presidential election and whether any of Trump's associates had connections with the country at the time.

Read: Trump On Kushner Russia Investigation: President Calls Fake News Contact Controversy

According to CNN, investigators are looking into Kushner's talks with Sergey Gorkov, who was appointed as the chairman of Russia's state-owned Vnesheconombank by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Also, Kushner’s relationship with former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn — who was fired for misleading Trump officials about his calls with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak — and his reported discussion with the ambassador about setting up a secret communication channel are being examined by the investigators.

The reported development comes after a May 27 report from Reuters that said Kushner had at least three previously undisclosed contacts with Kislyak. These contacts included two phone calls between last April and November, two sources told the news agency at the time.

The committee was reportedly eager to interview 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, said in a statement, CBS News reported May 25.

While Kushner’s lawyer maintained the Trump aide would cooperate with the probe, 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 in May. “Kushner’s security clearance should be suspended until the FBI’s findings are complete.”

On May 29, Sen. John McCain became the first Republican to criticize Kushner over his alleged ties to Russia.

"I don't like it, I just don't," McCain told Australia’s ABC News at the time. "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."

There were reports that Kushner was not happy with the Russia allegation reports, which he thought damaged his reputation. He was also reportedly contemplating to review his and wife Ivanka Trump’s stay at Washington, D.C., every six months.