Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) called on President Donald Trump to fire son-in-law Jared Kushner for repeatedly -- and possibly illegally -- lying about his contacts with Russia during the presidential campaign.
NBC News reporter Peter Alexander asked the White House to comment on Kushner's security clearance after the president's son released emails showing they knowingly met with a Russian government lawyer promising to help the campaign, but the administration refused to comment.
"I think the bigger question is why Jared Kushner still has a job," Murphy told MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
The Connecticut Democrat said Kushner, at best, neglected to tell his superiors about the meeting he and the president's son took with a Russian attorney promising damaging information about Hillary Clinton.
"If that's the case, then he's subject to the same problem that got Michael Flynn fired, that he was exposed with this lie, he was potentially compromised inside the White House," Murphy said. "If he doesn't get fired, then there's clearly a double standard."
Host Joe Scarborough said Kushner failed to disclose three meetings with Russian officials during the campaign when applying for security clearance.
"Isn't that a felony?" Scarborough asked.
Murphy said he wasn't sure, but he suggested Kushner might be exposed to criminal charges for conspiracy or aiding and abetting -- but he had no excuse for leaving those meetings off the required forms.
"It says that at the top of the form," Murphy said. "It's pretty clear when you're filling out the forms, that if you don't provide a full disclosure that you're committing a crime. Given the high-level nature of this meeting, the fact that the campaign thought it was important enough to send the campaign manager (Paul Manafort), the son of the president and the son-in-law, it's hard to believe that none of them remembered it."
He said the most damaging scenario would be if Kushner told top campaign officials -- including his father-in-law -- about the meetings and that he had intentionally left them off security clearance forms in violation of the law.
"Either scenario is damning for the White House," the senator said.
"Nobody should normalize the level of lying coming out of this White House," Murphy added. "In any other White House, someone with this breach of trust likely wouldn't have a job anywhere."
