Jared Kushner's Meeting with Sergey Gorkov

¶On December 6, 2016, the Russian Embassy reached out to Kushner's assistant to set up a second meeting between Kislyak and Kushner. 1146 Kushner declined several proposed meeting dates, but Kushner's assistant indicated that Kislyak was ve1y insistent about securing a second meeting .1147 Kushner told the Office that he did not want to take another meeting because he had aheady decided Kislyak was not the right channel for him to communicate with Russia, so he ananged to have one of his assistants, A vi Berkowitz, meet with Kislyak in his stead. 1148 Although embassy official Sergey Kuznetsov wrote to Berkowitz that Kislyak thought it "impo1i ant" to "continue the conversation with Mr. Kushner in person," 1149 Kislyak nonetheless agreed to meet instead with Berkowitz once it became apparent that Kushner was unlikely to take a meeting .

¶Berkowitz met with Kislyak on December 12, 2016, at Trnmp Tower. 1150 The meeting lasted only a few minutes, during which Kislyak indicated that he wanted Kushner to meet someone who had a direct line to Putin: Sergey Gorkov, the head of the Russian-govemment owned bank Vnesheconombank (VEB).

¶Kushner agreed to meet with Gorkov. 1151 The one-on-one meeting took place the next day, December 13, 2016, at the Colony Capital building in Manhattan, where Kushner had previously scheduled meetings.11 52 VEB was (and is) the subject of Depaiiment of Treasmy economic sanctions imposed in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea.1153 Kushner did not, however, recall any discussion during his meeting with Gorkov about the san ctions against VEB or sanctions more generally. 1154 Kushner stated in an interview that he did not engage in any preparation for

¶Kushner 4/11/18 302, at 18.

¶Kushner Stmt. at 7; NOSC00000123 (12/6/16 Email, Vargas to Kushner (12:11:40 p.m.)).

¶Kushner 4/11/18 302, at 19; NOSC00000130 (12/12/16 Email, Kushner to Vargas (10:41 p .m.)).

¶Kushner 4/11/18 302, at 19; Kushner Stmt. at 7; DJTFP_SCO_01442290 (12/6/16 Email, Berkowitz to [Redacted: (b) (3), (b) (6), (b) (7)(C)]

¶DJTFP_SCO_01442290 (12/7/16 Email, [Redacted: (b) (3), (b) (6), (b) (7)(C)] to Berkowitz (12:31:39 p.m.)).

¶Berkowitz 1/12/18 302, at 7; AKIN_GUMP_BERKOWITZ_00000l -04 (12/12/16 Text Messages, Berkowitz & 202-701-8532).

¶Kushner 4/1 1/18 302, at 19; NOSC00000130-135 (12/12/16 Email, Kushner to Berkowitz).

¶Announcement of Treasury Sanctions on Entities Within the Financial Services and Energy Sectors of Russia, Against Arms or Related Materiel Entities, and those Undermining Ukraine's Sovereignty, United States Department of the Treasmy (Jul. 16, 2014).

¶Kushner 4/11/18 302, at 20.

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¶the meeting and that no one on the Transition Team even did a Google search for Gorkov's name.¹¹⁵⁵¹¹⁵⁵ Kushner 4/11/18 302, at 19. Berkowitz, by contrast, stated to the Office that he had googled Gorkov's name and told Kushner that Gorkov appeared to be a banker. Berkowitz 1/12/18 302, at 8.

¶At the start of the meeting, Gorkov presented Kushner with two gifts: a painting and a bag of soil from the town in Belarus where Kushner's family originated.¹¹⁵⁶¹¹⁵⁶ Kushner 4/11/18 302, at 19-20.

¶The accounts from Kushner and Gorkov differ as to whether the meeting was diplomatic or business in nature. Kushner told the Office that the meeting was diplomatic, with Gorkov expressing disappointment with U.S.-Russia relations under President Obama and hopes for improved relations with the incoming Administration.¹¹⁵⁷¹¹⁵⁷ Kushner Stmt. at 8. According to Kushner, although Gorkov told Kushner a little bit about his bank and made some statements about the Russian economy, the two did not discuss Kushner's companies or private business dealings of any kind.¹¹⁵⁸¹¹⁵⁸ Kushner Stmt. at 8. (At the time of the meeting, Kushner Companies had a debt obligation coming due on the building it owned at 666 Fifth Avenue, and there had been public reporting both about efforts to secure lending on the property and possible conflicts of interest for Kushner arising out of his company's borrowing from foreign lenders.¹¹⁵⁹¹¹⁵⁹ See, e.g., Peter Grant, Donald Trump Son-in-Law Jared Kushner Could Face His Own Conflict- of-Interest Questions, Wall Street Journal (Nov. 29, 2016).)

¶In contrast, in a 2017 public statement, VEB suggested Gorkov met with Kushner in Kushner's capacity as CEO of Kushner Companies for the purpose of discussing business, rather than as part of a diplomatic effort. In particular, VEB characterized Gorkov's meeting with Kushner as part of a series of "roadshow meetings" with "representatives of major US banks and business circles," which included "negotiations" and discussion of the "most promising business lines and sectors."¹¹⁶⁰¹¹⁶⁰ Patrick Reevell & Matthew Mosk, Russian Banker Sergey Gorkov Brushes off Questions About Meeting with Jared Kushner, ABC News (June 1, 2017).

¶Foresman, the investment bank executive mentioned in Volume I, Sections IV.A.1 and IV.B.3, supra, told the Office that he met with Gorkov and VEB deputy chairman Nikolay Tsekhomsky in Moscow just before Gorkov left for New York to meet Kushner.¹¹⁶¹¹¹⁶¹ Foresman 10/17/18 302, at 14-15. According to Foresman, Gorkov and Tsekhomsky told him that they were traveling to New York to discuss post-election issues with U.S. financial institutions, that their trip was sanctioned by Putin, and that they would be reporting back to Putin upon their return.¹¹⁶²¹¹⁶² Foresman 10/17/18 302, at 15-16.

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¶The investigation did not resolve the apparent conflict in the accounts of Kushner and Gorkov or determine whether the meeting was diplomatic in nature (as Kushner stated), focused on business (as VEB's public statement indicated), or whether it involved some combination of those matters or other matters. Regardless, the investigation did not identify evidence that Kushner and Gorkov engaged in any substantive follow-up after the meeting.

¶Rather, a few days after the meeting, Gorkov's assistant texted Kushner's assistant, "Hi, please inform your side that the information about the meeting had a very positive response!"¹¹⁶³¹¹⁶³ AKIN_GUMP_BERKOWITZ_0000011 (12/19/16 Text Message, Ivanchenko to Berkowitz (9:56 a.m.)). Over the following weeks, the two assistants exchanged a handful of additional cordial texts.¹¹⁶⁴¹¹⁶⁴ AKIN_GUMP_BERKOWITZ_0000011-15 (12/19/16 – 2/16/17 Text Messages, Ivanchenko & Berkowitz). On February 8, 2017, Gorkov's assistant texted Kushner's assistant (Berkowitz) to try to set up another meeting, and followed up by text at least twice in the days that followed.¹¹⁶⁵¹¹⁶⁵ AKIN_GUMP_BERKOWITZ_0000015 (2/8/17 Text Message, Ivanchenko to Berkowitz (10:41 a.m.)). According to Berkowitz, he did not respond to the meeting request in light of the press coverage regarding the Russia investigation, and did not tell Kushner about the meeting request.¹¹⁶⁶¹¹⁶⁶ Berkowitz 3/22/18 302, at 4-5.