Jared Kushner and Michael Flynn approached the Russian ambassador about setting up a secret, secure channel to the Kremlin. Kushner’s idea? Make it super-secure by just having members of the Trump regime walk straight into the Russian embassy and call Putin from there. Hey, just a thought.
Kislyak was reportedly "taken aback" by the proposition of a U.S. administration using communications lines at a Russian embassy. In other words, this was so off the wall, reckless, and unusual that Kislyak—Kislyak!—was thrown by it.
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But Kushner didn’t stop with the Russian ambassador. In his quest to find the perfect communications channel, he also drummed up a meeting with Vnesheconombank head Sergey Gorkov. Vnesheconombank was under sanctions, and though Gorkov is pals with Putin, it seems remarkably odd that Kushner would think lining up a meeting with the head of an outlaw bank would be the best way to arrange a clandestine red telephone. So … why? Why meet with Gorkovv?
Federal and congressional investigators are now examining what exactly Mr. Kushner and the Russian banker, Sergey N. Gorkov, wanted from each other. The banker is a close associate of Mr. Putin, but he has not been known to play a diplomatic role for the Russian leader. That has raised questions about why he was meeting with Mr. Kushner at a crucial moment in the presidential transition, according to current and former officials familiar with the investigations.
In addition to helping set up a communications channel, Gorkov would certainly have appreciated the opportunity to get in a request to lift the sanctions against his bank. But what would Kusher want with a Russian banker? As it turns out, there’s a good answer to that one.
Anbang, an insurer and prolific deal-maker close to China's government, had considered investing $4 billion in 666 Fifth Avenue. Kushner had overpaid for the building in 2007, when he bought it with the help of bank loans for $1.8 billion. The financial crisis ensued, occupancy rates plummeted and Kushner had to be rescued by outside investors to keep the troubled building afloat. Anbang's investment would have valued the building at a handsome $2.85 billion, and also refinanced about $1.15 billion in debt.
The possibility of a transaction brought scrutiny from two Bloomberg news reporters, Caleb Melby and David Kocieniewski, as well as from Congress and the New York Times. I discussed it in a column here two weeks ago. And for good reason: Kushner is a senior White House adviser who has Trump's ear on foreign policy. The math of Trump's 36-year-old son-in-law being saved from a reckless investment by China presented all sorts of conflicts of interest and the potential for disastrous policy moves by the White House.
Kushner has a building out there that’s an enormous cash drain. Chinese investors have determined that buying Kushner’s tug on Trump’s sleeve isn’t worth handing Jared a $1 billion pay day. Where else could he get money for his enormous Manhattan white elephant?
He could follow the example of his father-in-law.
By the 2000s, the property developer and casino owner with ready access to the capital markets and the biggest New York banks was no more. A series of corporate bankruptcies had limited his financing options. Mr Trump had become an entertainer who portrayed a tycoon on television and licensed his name to businesses looking for a brand, leading to fee-making opportunities as disparate as Trump University and Trump Vodka.
The bankrupt Trump found his money in a very special place. As Donald Jr. said at the time …
“Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.”
Or as Eric Trump made even more clear:
“Well, we don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.”
If they played it right Gorkov could get his sanctions lifted, Kushner could get his loan, and Putin could get a secret call line into the White House. The arrangement could be good for everyone—so long as “everyone” was restricted to Kushner, Gorkov, Trump, and Putin.