Trump son-in-law Kushner to take on senior White House advisory role

[webfact]

Trump son-in-law Kushner to take on senior White House advisory role

By Steve Holland

 

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump greets his daughter Ivanka and son in law Jared Kushner (R) at his election night rally in Manhattan, New York, U.S., November 9, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, will become a senior White House adviser and work on trade deals and the Middle East, transition officials said on Monday, in a rare case of a close presidential family member taking on a major job.

 

Kushner, 35, who is married to Trump's daughter Ivanka, is taking the job after receiving legal counsel he would not be violating a U.S. anti-nepotism law based on court rulings that the statute does not apply to the White House. The position does not require U.S. Senate confirmation.

 

Ivanka Trump, who like her husband has been a trusted adviser to the president-elect, will not take on a role in her father's White House but will focus instead on settling her family in Washington.

 

Both of the Trumps will undertake significant divestments of their wide-ranging financial portfolios as they prepare for their move to Washington from New York and face inevitable questions about a potential conflict of interest.

 

Senior transition officials and a lawyer for Kushner laid out the arrangement in a conference call with a small group of reporters.

Kushner is to work closely with incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and senior strategist Steve Bannon in advising the new president and the officials said he would focus at least in the beginning on trade policy and the Middle East.

 

The incoming president has vowed to rewrite international trade deals to make them more favourable to the United States and has adopted a pro-Israel stance with a pledge to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.

 

Jamie Gorelick, a New York lawyer who served as deputy attorney general for Democratic President Bill Clinton, helped advise Kushner on whether he would violate a 1967 anti-nepotism statute and said he would not.

 

"I'm not saying that there isn't an argument on the other side, and I respect the people who have made the argument on the other side. I just think we have the better argument," she said.

 

Gorelick said Congress in 1978 authorized the president to hire personnel for the White House office "without regard" to federal personnel laws like the anti-nepotism statute and that the Justice Department had described that authority as unfettered and sweeping.

 

"Even without that law, two D.C. Circuit decisions strongly suggest that the White House Office is not an 'agency' under the anti-nepotism statute, a position supported by the views of the Justice Department under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush," Gorelick said.

 

DIVESTMENTS

 

In order to comply with federal ethics laws and after consulting the Office of Government Ethics, Kushner will take a number of steps to divest substantial assets, Gorelick said.

 

Kushner will resign from his positions as chief executive of the Kushner Companies and as publisher of the New York Observer newspaper and divest from any interests in the New York Observer, Thrive Capital, 666 Fifth Avenue and any foreign investments.

 

In addition, Kushner will recuse himself from participating in matters that could have a direct effect on his remaining financial interests.

 

Those interests include real estate in the New York area, Ivanka Trump's interest in the new Trump hotel in Washington and the Ivanka Trump Brand fashion business, the officials said.

 

Ivanka Trump will not participate in the management or operations of the Trump Organization or the Ivanka Trump brand or fashion business.

 

She will divest significant assets including all common stock and resign from all officer and director positions she holds in the Trump Organization.

 

(Additional reporting by Emily Stephenson and Doina Chiacu; Writing by Steve Holland; Editing by Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-01-10

[Ulysses G.]

Good news. He and his wife are intelligent businesspeople that will help President Trump make America great again!

[Langsuan Man]

Great,  another swamp dweller comes to town

 

Will be interesting to see if The Donald's legal opinion that the Federal Law on Nepotism does not apply to him 

[hawker9000]

1 hour ago, Langsuan Man said:

Great,  another swamp dweller comes to town

 

Will be interesting to see if The Donald's legal opinion that the Federal Law on Nepotism does not apply to him 

 

Gee, where were all these wingnuts moaning about "nepotism" when Bobby Kennedy was AG??

 

 

[Langsuan Man]

Just now, hawker9000 said:

Gee, where were all these wingnuts moaning about "nepotism" when Bobby Kennedy was AG?

 

They were writing the law so it couldn't happen again 

[craigt3365]

2 hours ago, Ulysses G. said:

Good news. He and his wife are intelligent businesspeople that will help President Trump make America great again!

What happened to drain the swamp?  If Hillary had done this, Trump supporters would be yelling and screaming now.  But, they're taking these things lying down.  Unreal.  Nepotism at it's worst.

[Srikcir]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Kushner will recuse himself from participating in matters that could have a direct effect on his remaining financial interests.

If only Donald Trump could offer the same recuse.

[ezzra]

3 hours ago, Langsuan Man said:

Great,  another swamp dweller comes to town

 

Will be interesting to see if The Donald's legal opinion that the Federal Law on Nepotism does not apply to him 

 

You'd wish you were 1/100th of this ' swamp dweller ' education, lineage,

accomplishment, wealth and upbringing,

easy to throw bud at people that you never in a million years be anything like them...

[craigt3365]

3 minutes ago, ezzra said:

 

You'd wish you were 1/100th of this ' swamp dweller ' education, lineage,

accomplishment, wealth and upbringing,

easy to throw bud at people that you never in a million years be anything like them...

You might be right, but bringing in so many family members and business acquaintances to run the government is making Trump look greedy.  It just isn't right.

[Langsuan Man]

43 minutes ago, ezzra said:

You'd wish you were 1/100th of this ' swamp dweller ' education, lineage,

accomplishment, wealth and upbringing,

easy to throw bud at people that you never in a million years be anything like them...

 

Trust me I am perfectly content with my lineage, accomplishments, wealth and upbringing.  The only difference is that my daddy didn't bankroll my entry into the business world

 

Why do you think The Donald has such an affinity for Kushner ?   A shared history of  pampered breeding 

[yardrunner]

5 hours ago, Ulysses G. said:

Good news. He and his wife are intelligent businesspeople that will help President Trump make America great again!

So now it will it  be emperor Trump now and the start of a new royal dynasty

[Morch]

1 hour ago, ezzra said:

 

You'd wish you were 1/100th of this ' swamp dweller ' education, lineage,

accomplishment, wealth and upbringing,

easy to throw bud at people that you never in a million years be anything like them...

 

Far as I recall, Papa Kushner had to fork a donation for his son's admission. How "lineage" is relevant is beyond me.

Accomplishment? Like what....? Wealth was inherited and I'd pass on growing in a religious oriented family.

 

The adulation is kinda amazing.

[DavidVincent]

2 hours ago, ezzra said:

 

You'd wish you were 1/100th of this ' swamp dweller ' education, lineage,

accomplishment, wealth and upbringing,

easy to throw bud at people that you never in a million years be anything like them...

Not all the people wish to be a turd you know....even if this turd is in solid gold

[gdgbb]

5 hours ago, Langsuan Man said:

Great,  another swamp dweller comes to town

 

Will be interesting to see if The Donald's legal opinion that the Federal Law on Nepotism does not apply to him 

 

If it's challenged, which is unlikely.

[mike324]

2 hours ago, ezzra said:

 

You'd wish you were 1/100th of this ' swamp dweller ' education, lineage,

accomplishment, wealth and upbringing,

easy to throw bud at people that you never in a million years be anything like them...

 

I'm sure most don't want to be like the Trumps, but perhaps its your dream to be like them? Definitely not a good role model based on their shady history. What a low comment.

[Boon Mee]

6 hours ago, Ulysses G. said:

Good news. He and his wife are intelligent businesspeople that will help President Trump make America great again!

That's right.  He's a very smart guy and one of the chief reasons Trump gained the office of POTUS. 

[elgordo38]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Both of the Trumps will undertake significant divestments of their wide-ranging financial portfolios as they prepare for their move to Washington from New York and face inevitable questions about a potential conflict of interest.

 

Really read the enclosed link. It gives you a capsule look at the global entwinement of money.

http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/07/us/politics/jared-kushner-trump-business.html?_r=1

[kamahele]

I guess he will have to give up the negotiations with the Chinese Hotel Group Ambang which has close ties to the Chinese Govt. over the management of his own family's hotel (not a Trump property).

[elgordo38]

21 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

That's right.  He's a very smart guy and one of the chief reasons Trump gained the office of POTUS. 

Someone has to pull the strings otherwise the puppet would be without movement. 

[hawker9000]

5 hours ago, Langsuan Man said:

 

They were writing the law so it couldn't happen again 

 

And what law is that exactly?  Citation please.

[Boon Mee]

Trump's daughter seems to have married a very talented man who regardless of the inevitable charges of nepotism will do a fine job.  JFK named his brother Attorney General - nothing wrong or improper with that.

[Opl]

5 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

Trump's daughter seems to have married a very talented man who regardless of the inevitable charges of nepotism will do a fine job.  JFK named his brother Attorney General - nothing wrong or improper with that.

 

( i've noticed, Boon Mee,  how you constantly give free pass and open credit to Trump Family members in advance ... regardless of any kind of ethics concerns - and deliver certificates of satisfaction for the future,    so what could possibly be wrong? )...  

Edited January 10, 2017 by Opl

[Srikcir]

3 minutes ago, hawker9000 said:

 

And what law is that exactly?  Citation please.

The Federal Anti-Nepotism Statute was passed in 1967 ?

Kushner will not be a federal employee, only an advisor and not a member of the POTUS Cabinet.

[Opl]

Trump seems to need Jared Krushner like a crutch he can trust.

 

[Boon Mee]

7 minutes ago, Opl said:

Trump seems to need Jared Krushner like a crutch he can trust.

 

Don't believe it's so much a 'crutch' but as been pointed out, a trusted advisor 

[DavidVincent]

24 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

Trump's daughter seems to have married a very talented man who regardless of the inevitable charges of nepotism will do a fine job.  JFK named his brother Attorney General - nothing wrong or improper with that.

If you don't see the problem is NOT his talent but the Nepotism coming from this nomination, you are a lost cause... 

 

"JFK named his brother Attorney General - nothing wrong or improper with that."

Oh! I have another comparison ofr you : Kim Dynasty in NK, I am sure you love it, don't you? So if I follow your rule : if a president already did something, the next one can do the same even if it is a clear problem for the institutions...That's why there is "again" in "Make the USA great again"

[Boon Mee]

^

Sorry but this issue is a tempest in a teacup.

Comparisons with the Norks is simply not valid.

[DavidVincent]

9 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

^

Sorry but this issue is a tempest in a teacup.

Comparisons with the Norks is simply not valid.

As is the comparison with JFK and his brother but you brought this on the table. You still do not see the issue is not competence but nepotism..I bet you see it but just think it is better to marginalize it because it suits the small-handed man ideology you stick with.

[Boon Mee]

Well, Trump obviously saw the fruits of his son in law's advice that gained him the White House so who better than the individual he trusts that gives excellent advice rather than a stranger?

Edited January 10, 2017 by Boon Mee

[dunroaming]

This is being commented on as if it wasn't expected but it was always on the cards.  This is Trumps swamp now and he fills it as he feels inclined to.  He is following a predictable route which is to be expected.