This article originally appeared on Time.
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law has said that he only had four contacts with Russians during the campaign and presidential transition and that none of them were improper.
Jared Kusher also said he never colluded with any foreign government during the presidential campaign. He also denied that Russians finance any of his business in the private sector. Kushner disclosed the information in an 11-page statement.
“I did not collude, nor know of anyone else in the campaign who colluded, with any foreign government. I had no improper contacts. I have not relied on Russian funds to finance my business activities in the private sector,” the statement said.
Kushner also said a June 2016 meeting with a Russian-American lawyer was such a “waste of time” that he asked his assistant to call him out of the gathering.
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 said he hadn’t seen those emails until recently shown them by his lawyers.
Kushner said in his statement that Trump Jr. invited him to the meeting. He said he arrived late and heard the lawyer discussing the issue of adoptions, then texted his assistant to call him out of the meeting.
The release of the statement comes just hours before he is to be interviewed by a Senate committee investigating Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election and any possible collusion by Trump associates.
The interview with the Senate intelligence committee is behind closed doors.
