
Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is a person of interest in the federal investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. But apparently, that's just a hilarious joke to the president and his fellow Republicans.

You would not think that the spotlight on Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, would be a laughing matter in the White House.

You would be wrong.

During a White House meeting with Trump and several congressional GOP leaders, to discuss the GOP's attack on health care, the president "joked" about his son-in-law's newfound fame:

TRUMP: I'd like to thank the leadership for being with us. Mike Pence, you've been great. I appreciate you being here. Steve, great. I appreciate everyone — Jared. Jared's actually become much more famous than me. [Laughter] I'm a little bit upset about that.


The last person Trump "jokingly" accused of usurping his fame was former FBI Director James Comey, whom Trump fired in the hopes of ending the FBI's investigation.

But why Republican leaders — including Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Vice President Mike Pence, and Texas Sen. John Cornyn — would think Kushner's newfound fame is so hilarious is quite a mystery.

The infamously silent Kushner, who has his own PR handlers to speak on his behalf, is in the headlines these days because the FBI recently declared him a person of interest with "significant information relevant to [the FBI’s] inquiry" into whether the Trump team possibly colluded with Russia.

While not a focus of the investigation, Kushner's several meetings with Russian officials, which he had failed to disclose, have come under great scrutiny, and brought what one would think would be unwanted attention to Kushner and his role in his father-in-law's administration.

It's possible that the Republicans in the room who laughed at Trump's "joke" did so because they know full well that Trump's fragile ego requires it. But Republicans control Congress and are therefore responsible for leading the several investigations into the Trump team's ties to Russia. The mounting evidence of coordination between Trump's inner circle and a foreign entity that sought to influence the outcome of our presidential election should not have anyone laughing.