Reason and Justice
  • Seek the Truth
  • Who We Are
  • Get In Touch
  • Contribute
  • Seek the Truth
  • Who We Are
  • Get In Touch
  • Contribute



Background on the stories that make national news

​
   

Why has government been instituted at all? ​Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice, without constraint.
   ~ ​Alexander Hamilton









​
Photo by Andrew Horne

Jared Kushner Is In Big Trouble, Whether Or Not He Tried To Make a Deal With the Russian Government

5/28/2017

0 Comments

 
Photo Credit: Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff/Flickr)
Picture

​Friday the Washington Post reported that Jared Kushner, Senior Advisor to President Trump, proposed setting up a secret channel within the Russian embassy for private communications with the Kremlin. The conversation took place in December, during the transition period when Barack Obama was president. Kushner’s contact, Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, was so taken aback by his request that he discussed it with his superiors in Moscow. Kislyak ultimately turned down the offer.
​
Michael Flynn, advisor during the transition, who was fired as National Security Advisor for lying to the Vice President about his conversations with the Russian government, was also present during the conversation.

Mr. Kushner is in big trouble, no matter what his reasons were for attempting to set up a secret channel of communication, outside the prying ears of the National Security Agency. He failed to disclose this conversation on this SF 86, the security form used for investigations necessary to earn a security clearance. When confronted with the omission on his SF 86, his attorney stated that he had forgotten to disclose the contact. Since then, it has been reported that there were additional conversations between Kushner and the Russian government, also not disclosed on the SF 86, as early as April of 2016.

The attempted channel, relying on Russian government communications within the Russian embassy, would have gone far beyond any “back channel” communications set up during any other administration. (The proposed secret channel was to circumvent surveillance before Inauguration, so there is no credible explanation that Kushner was acting as a representative of a sitting president.) “Back channel” normally refers to private conversations between a representative of the president and members of a foreign government. A legitimate back channel would not be set up before Inauguration, using Russian communications systems.

Bill Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard, suggested in a Twitter message Saturday: “When are back channels suspicious? When proposed by president-elect's son-in-law using Russian comms w/ no clear national security purpose.”

Regardless of the reasons for this attempt at circumventing U.S. intelligence monitoring (and I can think of none that are not nefarious), it is felony to knowingly fail to disclose contacts with foreign nationals on the SF 86 (18 USC 1001). By the normal procedures followed in such cases, Kushner’s security clearance should be suspended pending further investigation, and he should be suspended from his job as senior advisor to the president.
The Washington Post article about the attempt to set up the secret channel, published May 26, can be found here.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/russian-ambassador-told-moscow-that-kushner-wanted-secret-communications-channel-with-kremlin/2017/05/26/520a14b4-422d-11e7-9869-bac8b446820a_story.html?utm_term=.b31b0a061659
 
The Reuters article about Kushner’s conversations before and after the election, published May 27, can be found here.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-fbi-kushner-exclusive-idUSKBN18N018
 
 An article from Solomon Wisenberg, attorney specializing in white collar felony defense, describing how to avoid going to jail for violating 18 USC 1001, can be found here.
http://www.wisenberglaw.com/Articles/How-to-Avoid-Going-to-Jail-under-18-U-S-C-Section-1001-for-Lying-to-Government-Agents.shtml

 Bill Kristol's Tweet:

Picture
The certification from the form is shown below.
Picture
The SF 86 form can be found here.
file:///C:/Users/Lisa/Downloads/SF86-10.pdf
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Truth is a real thing.

    Archives

    November 2019
    January 2019
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016

    Categories

    All
    2016 Election
    Aleksander Kogan
    Alpha Omega Winery
    Backchannel
    Bots
    Breitbart
    Cambridge Analytica
    Charlottesville
    Cozy Bear
    Department Of Justice
    Devin Nunes
    Donald Trump
    Don McGahn
    Dutch Intelligence
    Facebook
    Fact-checking Trump
    Fancy Bear
    FISA
    Fusion GPS
    Gates
    Glenn Simpson
    Global Warminig
    Gregory Kennedy
    GRU
    Gun Rights Rally
    Haiti
    Hate Groups
    Helskinki
    House Intelligence
    House Of Representatives
    Hurricane Maria
    Indicment
    Internet Research Agency
    James Comey
    Jared Kushner
    Jefferson Beauregard Sessions
    Justice Kennedy
    Justin Kennedy
    King Abdullah II
    Magnitsky Act
    Manafort
    Mariia Butina
    Mark Zuckerberg
    Mercer
    Michael Avenatti
    Michael Cohen
    Michael Flynn
    Mogilevich
    Money Laundering
    Mueller Investigation
    National Rifle Association
    Nuclear Deal
    Obstruction Of Justice
    Oleg Deripaska
    Organized Crime
    Papadopoulos
    President Trump
    Puerto Rico
    Reince Priebus
    Renaissance Technologies
    Rod Rosenstein
    Russian Interference
    Russian Trolls
    Ryan Zinke
    Senate Intelligence
    Senate Judiciary
    Senator Feinstein
    Social Media
    Steve Bannon
    Stormy Daniels
    Supreme Court
    Torshin
    Treasury Department
    Trolls
    Trump Jupiter National Golf Club
    Trump Lawsuit
    Trump Organization
    Trump-Putin
    Trump Transition
    Turkey
    Twitter
    U.S. Treasury Department
    Whitefish
    White Supremacy

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly