LEGAL/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/JARED KUSHNER: “Once the untouchable son-in-law in a White House where top aides jockey for the president’s ear, Jared Kushner has now been cast in a new role: reassuring people that he’s not going to resign, while colleagues question whether he can survive politically.
Any victory lap Kushner hoped to enjoy after pulling off a successful presidential foreign trip to the Middle East was cut short after The Washington Post reported that during the transition he discussed setting up a secret back channel with the Russian ambassador. He also failed to disclose earlier phone calls with Russian officials, according to a Reuters report.
The back channel was never established. But the news puts Kushner squarely in the middle of a wide-ranging FBI investigation into whether Trump campaign advisers were working with Russian operatives to influence the results of the 2016 election.
And it means that the main architect of Trump’s visit to the Middle East is now the lead distraction that will greet the president, who was flying home from nine days abroad on Saturday, returning from what was seen, overall, as a successful foreign trip.”
-Annie Karni and Josh Dawsey, “Russia scandal casts uncertainty over Kushner’s future role,” Politico, May 27, 2017 5:31pm