March 08, 2017

Warren, Carper and Cummings Question White House Counsel About Jared Kushner's Compliance with Conflict-of-Interest Laws

Full text of the letter available here (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Representative Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, today wrote to the Office of White House Counsel asking for clarification on Jared Kushner's compliance with federal conflict of interest laws. In a letter sent to Stefan C. Passantino, Deputy Counsel to the President and Designated Agency Ethics Official, the members raised concerns that Mr. Kushner, who serves as a Senior Advisor to President Trump, has reportedly failed to fully divest from his business interests and "substantial assets."

"Federal conflict of interest laws prohibit a federal official, such as Mr. Kushner, from profiting off of his government work," wrote Warren, Carper and Cummings. But despite promises from Kushner's attorney that Kushner would recuse himself from issues that might affect his financial interests while serving in the White House, "Neither the White House nor Mr. Kushner's attorneys has confirmed which financial assets Mr. Kushner still controls - rendering oversight of Mr. Kushner's recusals and compliance with conflict-of-interest law impossible." The status of financial holdings of Mr. Kushner's wife, Ivanka Trump, also remain unclear.

The members of Congress requested answers to a series of questions about Kushner's assets and his recusal plan, and how the Office of the White House Counsel plans to monitor Kushner's compliance with conflict-of-interest laws.

A PDF copy of the letter is available here.

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