Jared Kushner Named Senior White House Adviser, To Forgo Salary
Jared Kushner is resigning as CEO of his family's real estate company, and is expected to be named senior adviser to soon-to-be-President Donald Trump.
Kushner is Trump's son-in-law, and he and his wife, Ivanka Trump, bought a $5.5M mansion last week in the same DC neighborhood where Barack and Michelle Obama will move after they vacate 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. While there has been no indication that Ivanka Trump will have an official role in the White House — although she's already been in transition meetings with foreign heads of state — Kushner's move to DC will be for professional reasons, the Washington Post reports.
Kushner plans to divest himself of several holdings in addition to resigning from his company, and has been taking meetings with Anbang Insurance Group to potentially sell his trophy property, 666 Fifth Ave in Manhattan.
While Ivanka and her brothers likely won't be appointed to White House positions because of federal nepotism rules, Kushner's attorneys told the Post they don't believe nepotism laws would apply to an in-law. Regardless, a transition official told CNN contributor Rebecca Berg that to avoid breaking the law, Kushner will not accept payment.
Update: transition official says Kushner will NOT be paid in WH https://t.co/7omIGefKc9
— Rebecca Berg (@rebeccagberg) January 9, 2017
While Kushner is selling assets and reportedly trying to adhere to federal statutes, the president-elect still has not outlined a plan to disentangle himself from the myriad conflicts of interest his holdings present. If Trump does not sell his interest in his Old Post Office hotel in Washington, DC, he will be in violation of his lease on Jan. 20.
Trump has scheduled a press conference for Wednesday, Jan. 11, to discuss his business holdings. The last press conference Trump scheduled, on Dec. 15, was postponed and replaced with a tweet, promising "no new deals" for his company as president. That would do little to ease the nerves of ethics watchdogs who have asked Trump to sell holdings like the Old Post Office hotel and properties in foreign countries. [WaPo]
