Trump son-in-law under pressure over Russia scandal

– Russia ties under microscope –

But even before revelations of the Veselnitskaya meeting came to light, Kushner’s other dealings with Russian officials have been facing scrutiny.

According to The Washington Post, Kushner — at a December 2016 meeting with Kislyak — raised the possibility of setting up a secret and secure communications link between the Trump transition team and the Kremlin.

That same month, Kushner also met with Sergey Gorkov, chief of Vnesheconombank and a former member of Russian intelligence. The bank, a key arm of the Russian government, is under tough US sanctions.

The Post reported last month that Kushner’s finances and business dealings were being examined as part of the probe led by special counsel and former FBI director Robert Mueller into whether the Trump campaign teamed with Russia to help tilt the presidential race in favor of the billionaire tycoon.

And this week, the McClatchy newspaper group reported that congressional and Justice Department investigators were looking into whether the Trump campaign helped Russian cyber operatives bombard key voting districts with “fake news” about Clinton.

Kushner was in charge of the Trump campaign’s digital operations. He now plays a major role in shaping foreign policy.

– ‘Witch hunt’? –

US intelligence agencies have concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a massive effort to swing the election to Trump, including hacking and leaking embarrassing emails from Democrats.

Trump has vehemently denied any collusion between his campaign and Russia and repeatedly claimed to be the victim of a “witch hunt” by the media and sore loser Democrats.

Kushner is expected to discuss his Russian contacts at some point with the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is leading one of the several probes into Russian election interference.

But ahead of that testimony — and with unanswered questions mounting around him — opposition Democrats are demanding action now.

“It is unclear why Mr. Kushner continues to have access to classified information while these allegations are being investigated,” said a letter from nearly 20 members of the House Oversight Committee sent to the White House last month.