Trump’s Lawyers Wanted Kushner Out

Ken AshfordTrump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Some of Trump’s legal team are looking at his senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner and coming to the conclusion that nepotism may work in business, but not so much in politics.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, earlier in the summer several of Trump’s legal team suggested that Kushner’s involvement with the ongoing probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election made him a liability, and as such, he should be asked to step down as adviser.

Press aides to Trump’s legal team allegedly even went so far as to draft a statement explaining why Kushner was leaving the White House.

The statement, meant to be issued by Kushner, blamed a toxic political environment for turning Kushner’s meeting with a Russian lawyer during the 2016 campaign into an attack on Trump.

Kushner has since appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify about that June 2016 meeting, where he, along with Donald Trump Jr. and then-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort expected to be given some oppo-dirt on Hillary Clinton.

Along with worrying that Kushner might discuss the ongoing investigation with Trump or other aides, creating new legal troubles, there was a concern over his federal disclosure forms.

Kushner has had to revise those forms at least three times, and has added contacts with over 100 foreign officials that he somehow forgot about in his initial filing.

The idea that Kushner is poison isn’t limited to Trump’s legal team. The notion has been out there for some time, but Trump has staked a lot of responsibility and purpose in his golden boy.

Maybe Trump keeps him around because he is family and therefore above reproach.  Or maybe it is better to have him in the house and happy, as opposed to outside the house and disgruntled.