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Welcome to WHAT NOW, a morning round-up of the news/fresh horrors that await you today.




How could Donald Trump’s presidential campaign have pulled off a sophisticated plan coordinated with the highest levels of Russian intelligence to steal the 2016 election when they could barely keep their own shoes tied?

That’s basically the latest defense from Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and a top White House advisor, and I kind of buy it.


“They thought we colluded, but we couldn’t even collude with our local offices,” Kushner told congressional interns during an off-the-record talk at the Capitol on Monday afternoon. An anonymous source who’s clearly taken the right lessons from their summer internship provided Foreign Policy with written notes from the event.

Kushner also said “we don’t know where it’s going” when asked about special counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing probe into the campaign’s ties to Russia.

“I’m a lot more comfortable talking to you guys today ’cause there isn’t any press,” Kushner added. Whoops.

The White House didn’t respond to Foreign Policy for comment about the remarks.



UPDATE, August 1, 2017, 10:29 AM ET: Audio of the session obtained by Wired also included Kushner, who’s been tasked with bringing peace to the Middle East among his many other job duties, saying about his prospects for success in the region: “So, what do we offer that’s unique? I don’t know.”


WHAT ELSE?

