Kushner calls meeting with Russian lawyer 'waste of our time,' denies collusion

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Jared Kushner calls Russia meeting a waste of time

President Trump's son-in law and senior adviser denies allegations of collusion; chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge reports from Capitol Hill

President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner on Monday denied any collusion with Russia and called the meeting he and the president's eldest son attended with a Russian attorney a "waste of our time," in a rare written statement released as he met with congressional investigators.

White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner arrives for his appearance before a closed session of the Senate Intelligence Committee as part of their probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. July 24, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RTX3CP3R (REUTERS)

In the statement to committees released early Monday morning, Kushner, a White House adviser, laid out his dealings with foreign leaders and said none constitute campaign collusion.

“I did not collude, nor know of anyone else in the campaign who colluded, with any foreign government,” reads a section of his statement. “I had no improper contacts. I have not relied on Russian funds to finance my business activities in the private sector. I have tried to be fully transparent with regard to the filing of my SF-86 form [security clearance], above and beyond what is required. Hopefully, this puts these matters to rest.”

White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner waves as he arrives for his appearance before a closed session of the Senate Intelligence Committee as part of their probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. July 24, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein - RTX3CP4H (REUTERS)

READ THE FULL KUSHNER STATEMENT

Kushner met with Senate Intelligence Committee investigators Monday morning behind closed doors, in the first of several private sessions Hill committees are holding with Trump associates. The committees are investigating Russia's meddling in the 2016 election and any possible collusion by Trump associates.

Kushner, in his statement, detailed four contacts he had with Russians during the presidential campaign and transition.

“With respect to my contacts with Russia or Russian representatives during the campaign, there were hardly any,” he said in the statement. He recalled when he was at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington in April 2016, when his father-in-law delivered a speech on foreign policy and he was introduced to four ambassadors at the event, which included then-Russian ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak.

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, center, accompanied by his attorney Abbe Lowell, right, arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington., Monday, July 24, 2017, to meet behind closed doors before the Senate Intelligence Committee on the investigation into possible collusion between Russian officials and the Trump campaign. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite (AP)

“With all the ambassadors, including Mr. Kislyak, we shook hands, exchanged brief pleasantries and I thanked them for attending the event and said I hoped they would like candidate Trump’s speech and his ideas for a fresh approach to America’s foreign policy,” Kushner recalled. “The ambassadors also expressed interest in creating a positive relationship should we win the election. Each exchange lasted less than a minute; some gave me their business cards and invited me to lunch at their embassies. I never took them up on any of these invitations and that was the extent of the interactions.”

Kushner denied reports he took two calls with Kislyak between April and November 2016.

“I had no ongoing relationship with the ambassador before the election, and had limited knowledge about him then. In fact, on Nov. 9, the day after the election, I could not even remember the name of the Russian ambassador,” he said.

In the statement, Kushner detailed the June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer, news of which emerged ealier this month and gave new momentum to Democrats' claims the Trump administration secretly worked with the Kremlin to game the election.

“I arrived at the meeting a little late. When I got there, the person who has since been identified as a Russian attorney was talking about the issue of a ban on U.S. adoptions of Russian children. I had no idea why that topic was being raised and quickly determined that my time was not well-spent at this meeting,” he recalls in the statement. “Reviewing emails recently confirmed my memory that the meeting was a waste of our time and that, in looking for a polite way to leave and get back to my work, I actually emailed an assistant from the meeting after I had been there for ten or so minutes and wrote 'Can u pls call me on my cell? Need excuse to get out of meeting.'

“I had not met the attorney before the meeting nor spoken with her since. I thought nothing more of this short meeting until it came to my attention recently.”

Emails released this month show Donald Trump Jr. accepted the meeting at Trump Tower with the idea that he would receive damaging information about Hillary Clinton. But Kushner says he hadn't seen those emails until he was recently shown them by his lawyers. Kushner says in his statement that Trump Jr. invited him to the meeting.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.