The Office of Government Ethics has revealed that attorneys at the White House are examining whether loans to the company owned by Jared Kushner’s family violated federal ethics regulations or criminal law.
Kushner Companies is a real estate company that Jared Kushner ran before Donald Trump, his father-in-law, became president. The company received loans of $184 million from Apollo Global Management and $325 million from Citigroup since Kushner has been serving in a senior role at the White House. While Kusnher resigned as CEO of the real estate firm when he joined the administration, he still owns a portion of the business, including stakes in the entities that received the loans.
Shortly before the loans in question were made, Kushner met several times with Joshua Harris, co-founder of Apollo Global Management, and once, in the White House, with Michael Corbat, CEO of Citigroup. The New York Times reported that Kushner’s meetings with Harris involved discussions of a possible White House role.
Abbe Lowell, an attorney for Kushner, told TheWall Street Journal that when the loans were first reported the White House concluded there were no issues. He also emphasized that Kushner no longer works for Kushner Companies and that the loans had nothing to do with him or his meetings with Corbat and Harris.
The Office of Government Ethics is an independent body tasked with preventing conflicts of interest among government employees. David J. Apol, the acting director of the agency, revealed the White House was looking into the loans in a letter to Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Illinois) after she raised the question of whether the loans were an issue on March 1.