Jared Kushner: No Russian Collusion, No Questions, Please

WASHINGTON, DC — President Donald Trump's son-in-law and Senior White House Advisor Jared Kushner finished meeting with Senate investigators probing Russian influence in last year's presidential election and said afterword he's been consistent in saying he was eager to share what he knew.

Kushner left the private meeting around 12:25 p.m. after nearly three hours. Police stopped a man who tried to hand him a Russian flag. Kushner issued a public statement from the White House on Monday afternoon saying all his actions were proper and occurred in the normal course of events in a "very unique campaign."

"Let me be very clear, I did not collude with Russia nor do I know of anyone else in the campaign who did so. I had no improper contacts. I have not relied on Russian funds for my businesses, and I have been fully transparent in providing all requested information," he said.

Watch: Jared Kushner: 'I Did Not Collude' With The Russian Government

Kushner said Trump defeated Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton because he had a better message and a smarter campaign. Kushner said he's grateful for the opportunity to work on "important matters," including bringing peace to the Middle East and "reinvigorating America's innovative spirit." He did not answer questions at the end of the speech. (For more White House news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

He is to meet Tuesday with the House intelligence committee.

Kushner disclosed in a statement to members of Congress four distinct interactions with Russians during the presidential campaign and transition period. The 11-page statement provides his first detailed account of meetings over the last year with the Russian ambassador to the United States, a Russian lawyer and a Russian banker.

The encounters:

APRIL 27, 2016, MAYFLOWER HOTEL, WASHINGTON

Kushner described meeting Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak at a hotel reception before Trump, then a Republican presidential candidate, was to deliver a major foreign policy speech on the campaign trail.

He said Kislyak was one of four ambassadors he greeted with a handshake and pleasantries. He said he thanked the dignitaries for attending and told them that he hoped they would enjoy Trump's speech, and the ambassadors, in turn, "expressed interest in creating a positive relationship should we win the election."

He said each interaction lasted less than a minute, and he never took up any of the ambassadors on their invitations to lunch at their embassies.

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JUNE 9, 2016, TRUMP TOWER, NEW YORK CITY

Though Kushner maintains that he didn't even recall this meeting until recently reviewing his records, this gathering has caused significant headaches for the Trump White House since it was publicly disclosed earlier this month.

Kushner said he was invited by his brother-in-law, Donald Trump Jr., to a meeting at Trump Tower with a person who turned out to be Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya. He said he arrived late, heard discussion about Moscow's ban on Americans adopting Russian children and concluded that the meeting was such a "waste of time" that he quickly looked for a way out.

"I actually emailed an assistant from the meeting after I had been there for ten or so minutes and wrote 'Can u pls call me on my cell? Need excuse to get out of meeting,'" Kushner said.

Emails that Trump Jr. released show that the president's oldest son took the meeting with the expectation that the lawyer would provide negative information about Clinton. Kushner said he hadn't seen those emails until his lawyers recently showed them to him.

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DEC. 1, 2016, TRUMP TOWER, NEW YORK CITY

Kushner said this meeting involved Kislyak and then-White House National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and lasted between 20 minutes and a half-hour.

In his statement, Kushner denied media reports that said he discussed with Kislyak a secret back-channel for communications.

Instead, Kushner said, Kislyak asked him if there was a secure way for him to convey to Trump administration officials information about Syria that he said was coming from his "generals." Kushner said that given the importance of Syria, he asked if there was an existing communications channel at the Russian Embassy that Kislyak felt comfortable using.

"The Ambassador said that would not be possible and so we all agreed that we would receive this information after the Inauguration," Kushner said. "Nothing else occurred. I did not suggest a 'secret back channel.'"

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DEC. 13, 2016, TRUMP TOWER, NEW YORK CITY

Kushner said he went to a meeting with a Russian banker, Sergey Gorkov, after being repeatedly asked to do so by Kislyak.

He said Gorkov introduced himself and have him two gifts: a bag of dirt from a village in Belarus where Kushner's grandparents were from and a piece of art from the same location. He said Gorkov discussed his bank and the Russian economy and described himself as friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But Kushner insisted that the meeting had nothing to do with his work as a businessman. He said the men did not discuss sanctions against Russia or anything about "my companies, business transactions, real estate projects, loans, banking arrangements or any private business of any kind."

By ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press

Photos credit: J. Scott Applewhite, Andrew Harnik/Associated Press