The controversial meeting between Jared Kushner and Sergey Gorkov took place in December. All sides acknowledge the meeting. But what did Kushner, a top adviser and son-in-law to Donald Trump, meet with Gorkov, the head of Russia’s VEB bank, about?
Each side offers a different description of Kushner’s role as he took the meeting. Was Kushner representing his family’s real estate interests? Or was he a de facto government official representing President-elect Trump’s transition team? In other words, which hat did Kushner wear during the meeting — his government hat or his private enterprise hat?
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Kushner met with Gorkov as a government functionary. Spicer said that during the meeting:
“[Kushner] was a conduit to leaders and that’s until we had a State Department, a functioning place for people to go.”
Gorkov’s VEB gave a statement to CNN that characterized Kushner as a private citizen and business person during the meeting:
“During 2016 the bank’s management repeatedly met with representatives of the world’s leading financial institutions in Europe, Asia and America … including the head of Kushner Companies, Jared Kushner.”
