[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Jared Kushner is at the center of a highly classified whistleblower complaint against Tulsi Gabbard, an explosive new report has revealed.
Donald Trump's son-in-law featured in a conversation about Iran between two foreign nationals, The New York Times reported on Thursday.
| So he did nothing wrong, but people were talking about him? Ooookaaaay… |
The phone call between the pair was intercepted by a foreign intelligence agency and handed to the US last May.
The exact contents of the call remain unclear but include allegations about Kushner that would be 'significant if verified,' sources said.
A senior US official told the Daily Mail that the claims 'were nothing more than salacious gossip.'
A whistleblower accused Director of National Intelligence Gabbard of restricting access to the intercepted phone call for political reasons, according to the complaint filed last May.
Kushner's previously unreported involvement deepens the mystery surrounding the complaint which was deemed so sensitive that it was kept in a locked safe for eight months.
The timing could not be more fraught. Kushner, Trump's Middle East envoy, is currently leading high-stakes negotiations with Iran to end its nuclear enrichment program. The 45-year-old real-estate investor also maintains business interests in the region.
Members of Congress were finally briefed last week about the complaint which was made as Trump planned Operation Midnight Hammer, the bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities at the end of June.
Kushner's name was redacted in the original report made by the National Security Agency (NSA), but those reading it - including the whistleblower - were able to understand that it referred him.
Kushner was discussed as pertained to his influence within the Trump administration, those familiar with the contents of the conversation told the Times.
The intercepted phone call included allegations about Kushner that were not supported by any evidence, the intelligence sources said.
Officials refused to divulge the contents of the intercept on the grounds it would expose the top secret source of the intelligence.
Intercepts of this type are notoriously difficult for spies to interpret without more concrete information which can be provided by documents or agents on the ground.
The whistleblower believed that the information should be disseminated more broadly but Gabbard - along with the NSA's top lawyer and the intelligence community's inspector general - disagreed.
| And she’s the boss. As reported here, the thing reeks of sour grapes and attempted deep state shenanigans rather than substance. And if the Mail can’t find or manufacture substance… |
The complaint's existence was first revealed last week, with the Wall Street Journal likening it to 'a cloak-and-dagger mystery reminiscent of a John le Carré novel.'
A heavily-redacted version of the complaint was reviewed on a 'read-and-return' basis by the Gang of Eight last Tuesday - a select bipartisan group of lawmakers who are briefed on classified intelligence matters by the executive branch.
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