MANHATTAN — Jared Kushner, media and real estate mogul-turned-Donald Trump son-in-law and advisor, met in Trump Tower late last year with the Russian ambassador to the United States who's now at the center of the U.S. Attorney General scandal, according to a multiple reports.
News of the meeting, first reported by the The New Yorker and then by the Times, comes amid a growing scandal over the White House's ties to Russia has ensnared a growing number of President Donald Trump's cabinet and advisors — and has sparked some GOP members to call for a bipartisan investigation.
Flynn, the primary conduit between Russian officials and the Trump campaign, was with Kushner, the president's son-in-law, when they met with Kislyak in December in order to "establish a line of communication," the Times reported.
Such meetings are common for transition teams trying to build an effective government before Inauguration Day, the Times reported, but any links between Trump and Russia are coming under increasing scrutiny.
On Thursday, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions acquiesced to calls for him to recuse himself from any federal investigations into Russia's ties to Trump after The Washington Post reported he met with their ambassador Sergey Kislyak but lied about it during his confirmation hearing.
Sessions did not confirm that any such investigations exist, but simply said he would not take part in them if they did.
The scandal has already ousted retired general Michael Flynn from his position as national security advisor.
