Al Franken Tries Not To Laugh When Asked If He Believes Jared Kushner’s Russia Lies

Minnesota Sen. Al Franken tried not to laugh on Saturday when he was asked whether he believes Jared Kushner’s story on Russia, particularly this week’s comments by the Trump son-in-law that he and members of the campaign “did not collude” with Moscow in 2016.

In an interview on MSNBC, Franken was asked if he took Kushner at his word. His simple response: “No.”

Video:

Franken laughed and said:

“No. He has had to refile his disclosure form a number of times. I’ve written a letter asking for at least to suspend his security clearance. … This may come down to what did the president know and when did his son in law tell him?”

The Democratic senator said he trusts Special Counsel Robert Mueller to answer those questions and get to the bottom of whether Kushner is telling the truth.

“We have this guy Bob Mueller, and he is going to find that out,” Franken said. “What happens very often is that people commit crimes along the way, either in the cover up or had before, and they plea bargain. And part of that is you get information out.”

Franken’s comments come after a week in which Kushner made a rare public appearance talking down his and his father-in-law’s ties to Russia.

Video via The New York Times:

“All of my actions were proper and occurred in the normal course of events of a very unique campaign,” Kushner said early in the week. “I did not collude with Russians, nor do I know of anyone in the campaign who did.”

It’s clear that Franken, his Democratic colleagues, and most of the American people aren’t buying the constant lies – particularly with respect to Russia – coming from Kushner this White House. Each time they make a claim about their ties or meetings with the Kremlin, it turns out to be false.

In the case of Jared Kushner, there is no reason to believe the same pattern won’t hold. The idea of trusting Kushner or anyone inside the White House when it comes to this scandal is laughable.

Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.