WASHINGTON — Sen. Amy Klobuchar was among a group of U.S. senators who attended a dinner last week at the Washington home of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.
The website Axios first reported the meeting. Klobuchar's office subsequently confirmed it to the Star Tribune.
A spokesperson for the Minnesota senator said the topic of the meeting was criminal justice reform efforts that have bipartisan support. Klobuchar got the invite to the home of the first daughter and son-in-law because she is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, her office said.
Other than that topic, Klobuchar's office said, there was casual conversation about the kids of several people at the dinner. Also in attendance were Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, along with Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers has been pushing for legislation to reduce mandatory-minimum sentences for nonviolent offenders, among other changes to address mass incarceration.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, a Republican, has voiced interest in trying again to pass the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declined to bring it up for a vote last year. Klobuchar and Sen. Al Franken, also a member of the Judiciary Committee, were among three dozen cosponsors of the Grassley bill in 2015.
Maya Rao • 202-662-7433
