Evangelical leaders are rallying around Donald Trump's son-in-law, the senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, as he meets with congressional leaders investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
In a co-ordinated effort, Christian leaders, including the Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr, have been releasing statements voicing their support for Kushner as he spends two days being interviewed by congressional investigators on Capitol Hill.
'I've known Jared for many years. He's a man of integrity, character, and a great, personal friend,' said Paula White, a gospel preacher who prayed at Trump's inauguration. '(E)nough-is-enough,' she added.
In a statement released yesterday, Falwell Jr. blasted the 'endless attempts by the media to keep the fake Russia collusion story alive – solely to obstruct the president's agenda'.
He added: 'In Jared Kushner, they've picked the wrong fight. I don't know a more competent person. He is brilliant and he is a man of the highest integrity.'
The South Carolina Pastor and Trump ally Mark Burns said that Kushner, who is an orthodox Jew, acted as a liaison to the religious community.
'Jared has been a huge instrument in giving us access to the White House. So this is just us showing our love and support back to him for what he has done for our faith-based community,' said Burns.
The statements were reportedly coordinated by Johnnie Moore, an evangelical activist from California, who recently attended a faith outreach meeting at the White House and tweeted a photograph of Christian leaders surrounding the president, their heads bowed in prayer.
'We've all had it,' said Moore, who sent a note on Monday morning to fellow faith leaders asking if they wanted to comment on Kushner.
He said of the White House: 'We didn't ask permission. They didn't even know we were doing it. For us it was personal.'
It was well documented that in the November election, Trump won some 80 per cent of the white evangelical vote. A Pew Research Center survey marking his first 100 days in office found three-fourths of white evangelicals approved of his performance as president, against thirty-nine per cent of the general public.
Kushner told Senate investigators yesterday that he had no part in any Kremlin attempt to meddle in the US election despite having met Russians four times last year.
'All of my actions were proper and occurred in the normal course of events of a very unique campaign,' Kushner later told reporters outside the White House. 'I did not collude with Russia, nor do I know of anyone else in the campaign who did.'
Kushner, 36, met Senate Intelligence Committee staff behind closed doors for about two hours. Two sources with knowledge of what Kushner said told Reuters that the session was pleasant and conversational.
In an 11-page written statement Kushner made public before the meeting, the real estate businessman portrayed himself as new to politics when he became a top adviser to Trump's 2016 campaign. The letter was his fullest account to date of contacts with Russian officials.
A businessman married to Trump's eldest daughter Ivanka Trump, Kushner has rarely spoken in public since his father-in-law launched his presidential campaign in mid-2015. 'I am not a person who has sought the spotlight,' he wrote in the letter.
Trump prevailed over his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in November 2016 because he ran a 'smarter campaign' and to suggest otherwise 'ridicules those who voted for him', Kushner said at the White House. He took no questions.
The congressional committee is one of several investigating the conclusion of US intelligence agencies that Russia, under President Vladimir Putin, engaged in a hacking and propaganda campaign to try to tilt the November election in Trump's favour.
Russia denies the accusation and Trump denies his campaign colluded with Moscow.
Additional reporting by Reuters.
