According to a stunning new report, Jared Kushner is “in the pocket” of Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman and, when the two met in Saudi Arabia last October, the Trump son-in-law shared sensitive U.S. intelligence with him.
Citing multiple sources, The Intercept reports that “Kushner had discussed the names of Saudis disloyal to the crown prince.”
More from the report:
In late October, Jared Kushner made an unannounced trip to Riyadh, catching some intelligence officials off guard. “The two princes are said to have stayed up until nearly 4 a.m. several nights, swapping stories and planning strategy,†the Washington Post’s David Ignatius reported at the time.
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What exactly Kushner and the Saudi royal talked about in Riyadh may be known only to them, but after the meeting, Crown Prince Mohammed told confidants that Kushner had discussed the names of Saudis disloyal to the crown prince, according to three sources who have been in contact with members of the Saudi and Emirati royal families since the crackdown. Kushner, through his attorney’s spokesperson, denies having done so.
MSNBC’s Chris Hayes was stunned when learning that Kushner might have shared “highly sensitive” material with the Saudi royal prince:
Saudi Prince Claims Jared Kushner Is ‘In His Pocket’ And Shared Sensitive U.S. Intel With Him #Kushner #Inners pic.twitter.com/bpS8QrjBhh
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) March 22, 2018
The exchange between Hayes and Ryan Grim, one of the reporters who broke the story on Wednesday:
HAYES: The Saudi crown prince boasting that the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is “in his pocket.” Ryan, what is your reporting saying about the relationship between Jared Kushner and the current crown prince in Saudi Arabia?
GRIM: It depends on where you want to start this story. You could pinpoint it in late October when Jared Kushner took an unannounced trip to Riyadh and sat down with the crown prince. And the two princes stayed up late at night a couple nights in a row talking strategy, talking politics. Over the weeks before that, we’ve learned that Jared Kushner had access to highly sensitive intelligence that detailed the names of some political dissidents within the Saudi royal family who were skeptical of the rise of the crown prince. We don’t know exactly what happened in the room between Jared Kushner and Mohammed bin Salman. But we do know that after bin Salman came out, he started boasting to people Kushner was in his pocket and Kushner had given him the names of people that were disloyal to him.
HAYES: Wait a second, wait a second. You’re reporting, based on sources that heard this from bin Salman, that he has been boasting the president’s son-in-law gave him U.S. intelligence about who his own internal enemies are?
GRIM: Mohammed bin Salman might be making it up. We don’t know.
HAYES: But what you’re reporting is that he has been telling people that.
GRIM: And we also have independent reporting that shows that Kushner would have had access to the precise type of intelligence that bin Salman is saying that he gave to him.
Why does Kushner still have a job in the White House?
The more information we learn about Jared Kushner’s activities as a government official, the more it’s apparent that he doesn’t deserve the access that Donald Trump has given him to highly sensitive U.S. intelligence. It’s why, last month, Kushner lost his top security clearance.
In other areas, the Trump son-in-law has used his role in the White House to benefit his own businesses. As I wrote earlier this month, citing a revealing New York Times report, Kushner’s family business was loaned over $500 million from companies after they met with him in the White House.
From the start, Kushner has always been unqualified to clean the floors of the Oval Office much less be shaping policy at home and abroad. Not only shouldn’t he have access to the sensitive information he reportedly gave to the Saudis, but he shouldn’t even be allowed in the doors of the White House.
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.
