Jared Kushner Image by Getty Images

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner said there wasn’t much to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation — so CNN’s Anderson Cooper called him out on it.

Cooper said Kushner, who also is President Trump’s son-in-law, was “gaslighting” Americans when he broke down the Russian election interference at the heart of the 448-page inquiry into “a couple Facebook ads.”

“The whole thing’s just a big distraction for our country,” Kushner said on Tuesday. “When you look at what Russia did, buying some Facebook ads to try to sow dissent, it’s a terrible thing, but the investigations and all the speculations that’s happened for the last two years has had a much harsher impact on democracy than a couple Facebook ads.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The president approved, tweeting: “Great interview by Jared. Nice to have extraordinarily smart people serving our country.”

That got Cooper riled up. “Who else other than maybe that Cliff guy could sum up such a long, dense document so concisely?” Cooper said teasingly, calling it the “Kushner’s Notes” version. He went on to share excerpts of the actual report.

On Trump’s adviser and son-in-law – Jared Kushner – labeling the Mueller report “a big distraction,” and suggesting that the extent of Russian interference in the election was just the buying of “some Facebook ads,” @AndersonCooper is #KeepingThemHonest.https://t.co/OI8qVhaQsY pic.twitter.com/U8nJPKrjS0

— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) April 24, 2019

Alyssa Fisher is a writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount