2.4k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Advertisements

It’s one thing to secretly meet with the Russians without disclosing it when you were legally required to disclose it. It’s a whole different level of troubling to secretly meet with a Russian banker who is reportedly one of Vladimir Putin’s top cronies.

According to reporting by NBC News on Saturday, Sergey Gorkov – the Russian banker Jared Kushner met with last December – is a close associate of Putin who often carries out “sensitive” work for the Russian president.

More from the report:

The Russian banker Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner met with in December is viewed by U.S. intelligence as a “Putin crony” and a graduate of a “finishing school” for spies who was often tasked with sensitive financial operations by Putin, according to multiple U.S. officials and documents viewed by NBC News. Sergey Gorkov, 48, graduated from the FSB Academy, which was chartered in 1994 to educate Russian Intelligence personnel. He has long served Russian President Vladimir Putin in critical economic roles. Most recently, Putin chose him to head of the state-owned VneshEconomBank (VEB). As the Russian state national development bank, VEB has played a critical role in blunting the impact of U.S. sanctions against Russia by finding other sources of foreign capital. Before that, Gorkov was the deputy chairman of Sberbank, Russia’s biggest bank, also state-owned, and also under U.S. sanctions since 2014.

Advertisements

Not only is Kusher the president’s son-in-law and one of his closest advisors, but as the reporting suggests, it appears he has been secretly working with a Russian banker that carries out sensitive operations directly for Vladimir Putin.

This is a stunning revelation and puts Kushner – a member of Trump’s family – at the very center of what continues to be an explosive scandal.

The questions continue to pile up as a result: What did Kushner seek to accomplish with his secret meetings with a Putin confidant, and what did Moscow expect in return? Was Gorkov’s meeting with Kushner also one of Putin’s “sensitive” operations?

If the Russians wanted to influence Trump, Kushner would be one of the top people they would use – and it appears Kushner had no problem offering his assistance.

It’s no wonder the White House refuses to respond to the Kushner news.