Lawyers urged Trump: Ax Jared
SOME OF President Trump’s lawyers wanted his senior White House adviser, who is also his son-in-law, to step down this summer when more complications surfaced about his troubled ties to Russia.
Jared Kushner should be removed from his high-profile advisory role, members of Trump’s legal team told him in June, according to a report Monday in The Wall Street Journal.
Kushner had several meetings with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign — which some of the legal team feared could complicate the ongoing probe of Russia’s alleged election influence.
Press aides to the legal team even drafted a statement to explain Kushner’s departure from the White House, The Journal said, citing unnamed sources familiar with the events.
The statement was meant to be read by Kushner himself and was going to blame a toxic political environment for his departure, the newspaper said.
But Trump argued there was no need for Kushner to resign, according to the report.
Kushner took part in a meeting in June 2016 with a Russian lawyer peddling allegedly damaging information about Trump’s Democratic presidential rival, Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump Jr. and former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort were with Kushner.
Kushner in July denied any coordination with Russia, just as Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation heated up.