Mueller investigating Jared Kushner to see if his foreign business ties influenced White House policy

Special counsel Robert Mueller is reportedly investigating presidential son-in-law and White House adviser Jared Kushner to determine if any of his foreign business ties have influence Trump administration policy.

NBC News reported Friday that federal investigators are currently focused on whether discussions Kushner had during the transition with foreign businesspeople "later shaped White House policies in ways designed to either benefit or retaliate against those he spoke with."

Witnesses Mueller and his team spoke with told NBC that the special counsel has recently asked questions related to Kushner's business ties, specifically with entities in the Arab Gulf states, Turkey, Russia and China.

Four people familiar with the investigation told NBC that "Qatari government officials visiting the U.S. in late January and early February considered turning over to Mueller what they believe is evidence of efforts by their country's Persian Gulf neighbors in coordination with Kushner to hurt their country."

News of Mueller's latest investigatorial direction comes the same week as a Washington Post report claiming that four foreign governments considered Kushner easy to manipulate due to large debts owed by his family business, Kushner Companies. The Kushner family business has a $1.2 billion dollar debt that will come due in January 2019.

Earlier this week, Kushner's security clearance was downgraded from "top secret" to "secret" after he failed to attain permanent clearance due to relationships with foreign individuals and entities. Kushner reportedly amended his clearance forms multiple times, each time with new information on previously undisclosed foreign contacts.