In a revelation that points to further discord in the Trump administration, it has now emerged that United States President Donald Trump's team of lawyers had asked his son-in-law and key advisor, jared kushner, to step down from his position at the White House.
A report by the Washington Post states that the investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election last year and reports of Kushner's meetings with a Russian official were cited as the reasons behind the legal team's actions.
Russian links
The sticking point with regard to the whole affair seems to be the Russian investigation and Kushner's links to Russia that could prove to be extremely damaging for the president.
Kushner is one of the senior advisors to the president with regards to foreign policy. Hence, those revelations about his meetings with the Russian ambassador to Washington ahead of the presidential election was without a doubt a big trigger for Trump's legal team to urge the president's son-in-law to step down. The idea was first put forward by the legal team some point before the reorganization of the legal team in July this year.
The lawyers believed that Kushner's presence in the White House and his close relations with the president could prove to be a legal nightmare for the president. In addition to that, they also pointed out that the regular leaks from inside the Rusian investigation might prove to be a big distraction for Kushner, thereby impacting his ability to perform his role.
White House responded aggressively
The White House did not deny that Kushner's ouster had been discussed but instead chose to condemn former staffers. Ty Cobb, the White House lawyer, stated that former White House staffers were hell bent on tarnishing Jared Kushner's image and went on to say that he enjoys the president's trust more than ever.
Cobb added, “Those whose agendas were and remain focused on sabotaging him and his family for misguided personal reasons are no longer around. All clandestine efforts to undermine him never gained traction.”
Cobb refused to divulge who he thought could be the source of the leak, however, it is well known that former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon had a stormy relationship with Kushner, and the possibility of his involvement cannot be ruled out entirely.
One member of Trump's legal team, John Dowd confirmed that the Kushner's ouster had in fact been a topic of discussion.
