FBI special counsel Robert Mueller's interest in the president's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has expanded beyond Kushner's contacts with Russia to include business dealings with China and Qatar during the election and presidential transition, sources told CNN.
During the transition, Kushner was also the lead contact for foreign contacts trying to reach his father-in-law, the president elect.
Kushner reportedly sought out Chinese investors during the transition to shore up financing for a 41-story office building in New York City that has been losing money since Kushner Companies acquired it in 2007 for a record-breaking $1.8 billion. Kushner Companies still holds half of a $1.2 billion mortgage on the property, but it has not paid a cent.
Kushner divested from the 666 Fifth Avenue property in early 2017, and was working to divest his interests in Kushner Companies before joining the administration, but federal investigators are still examining his financial and business dealings as they probe possible collusion between Russian officials and the Trump campaign during the election.
Kushner attorney Abbe Lowell told CNN in a statement, "Another anonymous source with questionable motives now contradicts the facts -- in all of Mr. Kushner's extensive cooperation with all inquiries, there has not been a single question asked nor document sought on the 666 building or Kushner Co. deals. Nor would there be any reason to question these regular business transactions."
Kushner, who has already testified twice before closed congressional committees, has denied mixing family business with his official role. But he met with Chinese firm Anbang Insurance one week after the election regarding an investment for the building, according to The New York Times, and also negotiated directly with a major investor in Qatar throughout 2015 and 2016, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, in an effort to refinance the property.
Mueller has asked about both efforts, and is also looking closely at a meeting Kushner had with Sergey Gorkov, chairman of Russian state-run VneshEconomBank, during the transition. Kushner said during testimony the meeting was for official government purposes, while the bank's statement said it was part of a "roadshow of business meetings" and Gorkov met Kushner because he led Kushner Companies.
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