White House probes loans to Kushner firm

White House officials have been looking into whether $500 million in loans that went to Trump administration senior adviser Jared Kushner’s family real estate company may have spurred ethics or criminal law violations, according to the head of the federal government’s ethics agency.

David J Apol, acting director of the Office of Government Ethics, said in a letter sent late last week to Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi that the White House Counsel’s office told him that officials were probing the loans to Kushner Cos. and whether “additional procedures are necessary to avoid violations in the future.”

Krishnamoorthi had asked Apol on March 1 about a New York Times report in February that Kushner Cos. accepted $184 million in loans from Apollo Global Management and $325 million from Citigroup last year over a span of several months after Kushner met with officials from the two firms. As US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and key adviser, Kushner plays an influential role in domestic and foreign policy decisions.

Late on Monday, Kushner’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said that “the White House counsel concluded there were no issues involving Jared.” Several White House officials contacted for comment by The Associated Press were not available to confirm whether White House lawyers had completed the inquiry.

Lowell denied any improprieties by Kushner, saying “he was not involved with his former company after he entered government service; the transactions in question came after that”.

WASHINGTON: