News / Politics

Some Trump lawyers thought Kushner should step down: Report

Tuesday, 12 September 2017 3:34 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 12 September 2017 3:36 PM ]

Senior Adviser to US President Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, makes a statement at the White House after being interviewed by the Senate Intelligence Committee in Washington, on July 24, 2017. (photo by AFP)

Members of US President Donald Trump’s legal team have expressed concern about his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s ongoing role in the White House and discussed his ouster, according to a report.

Some of the lawyers had voiced their concerns to Trump, saying that Kushner should have stepped down after they were made aware of his interactions with Russians during the campaign and transition, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

In July, reports revealed that Kushner, along with other Trump campaign aides, held a meeting with a Russian lawyer last year with a promise of compromising information about Hillary Clinton, Trump’s 2016 Democratic presidential rival.

Trump’s attorney, John Dowd, confirmed that the subject was raised among the legal team members, saying however, he had disagreed with the idea.

“I didn't agree with that view at all. I thought it was absurd, ”Dowd told the Journal. "I made my views known."

Marc Kasowitz, Trump's personal lawyer, also issued a statement denying the report.

"I never discussed with other lawyers for the President that Jared Kushner should step down from his position at the White House, I never recommended to the President that Mr. Kushner should step down from that position and I am not aware that any other lawyers for the President made any such recommendation either," Kasowitz said.

An intensive investigation was later launched to find out whether the Russian government coordinated with Trump’s associates during the 2016 campaign and transition.

However, Kushner denied colluding with Russia during the presidential campaign.

PressTV-Kushner denies collusion with Russia

Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner has denied colluding with Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign.

"I did not collude, nor know of anyone else in the campaign who colluded, with any foreign government," he said in July after being questioned by a Senate panel. "I had no improper contacts. I have not relied on Russian funds to finance my business activities in the private sector.”

The Trump administration has also been under pressure over recent revelations about a meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian attorney, Natalia Veselnitskaya, with Kushner and then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort, also present at Trump Tower in the summer of 2016.

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