Kushner ‘advises Saudi crown prince’

WASHINGTON

The U.S. president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, has continued to have private conversations with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (M.B.S.) following the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, The New York Times reported on Dec. 8.

According to reports, Kushner maintained informal contact with Saudi Crown, based on two former senior American officials and the two people briefed by the Saudis.

As the murder of the Saudi journalist who was ambushed and dismembered by Saudi agents set off a media firestorm and American intelligence agencies concluded that it was ordered by M.B.S., Kushner became the prince’s primary defender inside the White House, people familiar with its internal deliberations told the Times.

The Times noted that the informal relationship between Kushner and M.B.S. has been continuing for almost two and a half years as the two exchange text messages, emails and phone calls.

The exchanges continued even after the Oct. 2 killing of Khashoggi.

According to the newspaper, since the uproar over Khashoggi’s killing, the Trump administration has acknowledged only one conversation between  Kushner and Prince Mohammed: an Oct. 10 telephone call joined by John R. Bolton, the national security adviser.

But American officials and a Saudi briefed on their conversations said that Kushner and Prince Mohammed bin Salman have continued to chat informally.