A White House in crisis scrambled to allay public concern over reports that President Donald Trump’s son-in-law sought a secret communications link to Russia — a bombshell allegation the US President swatted down as “fabricated.”
After returning late Saturday from his first foreign trip as President, Mr Trump geared up to combat concerns over his advisers’ ties to Russia, including explosive reports about Jared Kushner, his indispensable aide-de-camp.
Mr Trump was meeting with attorneys at the White House on Sunday, presumably over the latest development in the long-running Russia intelligence saga, news reports said.
US media said the White House is creating a new rapid-fire communications unit to respond to the controversy, led by Mr Kushner, senior presidential adviser Steve Bannon and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.
Mr Trump, who had been uncharacteristically quiet on Twitter during his nine-day trip abroad, furiously dismissed the allegations of Russia ties as “fake news” and “fabricated lies.”
A source familiar with the thinking inside the White House told NBC News that a few individuals are suggesting Mr Kushner “lay low” for a while. Mr Trump, however, told the New York Times, “Jared is doing a great job for the country .... I have total confidence in him. “He is respected by virtually everyone and is working on programmes that will save our country billions of dollars. In addition to that, and perhaps more importantly, he is a very good person,” he told NYT.
Mr Kushner himself is focused on work and is eager to cooperate with the investigation, a source told NBC News.
