Donald Trump announced Monday that Jared Kushner would serve as a senior adviser to the president in his administration, joining Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and Chief Strategist Stephen K. Bannon in the President-elect’s inner circle.
In a statement that made no mention of the fact that Kushner is Trump’s son-in-law, the President-elect said Kushner would forgo a salary in that position.
Earlier on Monday, a lawyer for Kushner told Bloomberg that he planned on divesting from various real estate holdings as well as ownership stakes in the New York Observer newspaper and Kushner Cos., his family real estate company, in an attempt to avoid potential conflicts of interest.
Kushner’s decision to forego a salary appears to be the work-around reported ahead of the official announcement. Mike Allen reported earlier Monday that lawyers for Kushner and Trump had “worked out a way” for him to avoid infringing upon anti-nepotism laws.
A 1967 anti-nepotism law states that public officials may not “appoint, employ, promote, [or] advance” a relative.
Kushner’s lawyer, Jamie Gorelick, said Kushner’s eligibility to serve was “not a close question.”
“The Justice Department has described this authority as ‘unfettered’ and ‘sweeping,’” she told Bloomberg, referring to the president’s authority to hire who they want for their administration.
This post has been updated.
