Trump Lawyers Wanted Kushner Fired Over Russian Probe, WSJ Reports

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Some of President Trump’s lawyers urged him to fire Jared Kushner as White House senior adviser earlier this year in an effort to curb the potential legal complications stemming from the ongoing Russia investigation, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Sources familiar with the matter told the Journal that several of Trump’s attorneys were worried about Kushner’s various meetings with Russian officials during the 2016 presidential campaign, and went as far as approaching the president about it.

The concerns were serious enough for aides of Trump’s legal team to draft a statement in anticipation of having to explain why the president’s son-in-law was leaving the White House.

Also Read: FBI Conducting Investigation Into Possible Jared Kushner-Russia Connection

The statement, written on Kushner’s behalf, blamed a “toxic” political environment for his departure, lamenting that a standard meeting was being used as a “weapon for Mr. Trump’s critics,” two people familiar with the documents told the Journal.

The June 16 meeting — also attended by Donald Trump Jr. and former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort — was, apparently, “a central concern of Trump’s lawyers.”

Both Special Counsel Robert Mueller and congressional investigators are looking into the meeting. Trump Jr. was interviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee’s staff last week for five hours.

Also Read: Sarah Huckabee Sanders: Trump 'Certainly Didn't Dictate' Don Jr. Statement on Russia Meeting

John Dowd, who’s been heading Trump’s legal team since June, told the WSJ that, to his knowledge, the proposal wasn’t taken to the president and that he didn’t agree with his colleagues who thought Kushner needed to go.

The president’s legal team also had issues with Kushner’s federal disclosure forms, which he updated several times, adding more than 100 names of foreign individuals he has had contact with.

Here's Everyone Who Dumped Trump This Week (Photos)

In the wake of Trump's response to a violent white supremacist rally, "Unite the Right," in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend, several business leaders, council members and media personalities severed ties with the president. Quite a lot actually.
Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier Kicks Things Off
Frazier was the first to step down from Trump's council on manufacturing jobs Monday over POTUS' reaction to the events in Charlottesville, but he was far from the last.
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Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich
Plank and Krzanich both followed Frazier's lead in quitting the council, citing Trump's Charlottesville response. Trump tweeted condemnation of Frazier, who is black, but for some reason said nothing about these two.
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Alliance for American Manufacturing president Scott Paul
Early Tuesday morning, Paul became the fourth CEO to quit the manufacturing jobs group, and yes, he cited Trump's response to Charlottesville as the reason.
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Trump Makes It Worse
Tuesday afternoon, Trump shocked the country with an off-the-rails press conference at Trump Tower in which he appeared to defend and sympathize with the racist mob in Charlottesville. Trump insisted there was blame, as well as "many fine people" on both sides of the conflict in which nazi-sympathizer murdered one person and injured 19 more with his car.
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AFL-CIO Bails Out
Soon after Trump's rant, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations president Richard Trumka resigned from the manufacturing council.
CBS
Advisory Councils Disband
On Wednesday, members of Trump's Strategic and Policy Forum agreed to disband after Trump's response to the violence in Charlottesville. Soon after, the president announced via Twitter that he was ending his executive councils.
Twitter
"I Voted For Trump, And I Sorely Regret It"
That's the title of a New York Times op-ed written by Julius Krein, the founder and editor of pro-Trump website American Affairs. It went viral, though mainly because people were mocking it.
American Affairs
Trump Loses a Murdoch
James Murdoch, CEO of 21st Century Fox and more importantly son of media magnate and conservative icon Rupert Murdoch, dissed Trump in a widely circulated email to employees. He also said he and his wife will donate $1 million to the Anti-Defamation League over POTUS' response to Charlottesville.
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The Arts and Humanities Council Disses Trump, then Disbands
The Arts and Humanities Comittee resigned Friday morning en masse with a letter written so that the first letters of every paragraph spelled “RESIST.” The members include Kal Penn, Paula Boggs, Chuck Close, Richard Cohen, Fred Goldring and more.

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Bannon Ousted
White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon was reportedly fired Friday morning, though he insists he resigned July 27—giving two weeks’ notice—but his leaving was put off because of the events in Charlottesville. He will return to Breitbart news to go to “war” for Trump.
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Still More Resignations
Politico reported Friday afternoon that a "wave of resignations" hit the Commerce Dept.'s "digital economy" board. More than half the members of the 15-member board resigned.
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A Billionaire BFF Bails on Trump
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn stepped down Friday afternoon as unofficial special advisor to Trump, though he doesn't pile on. “I sincerely regret that because of your extremely busy schedule, as well as my own, I have not had the opportunity to spend nearly as much time as I’d hoped on regulatory issues,” he said in a letter to Trump.
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From the manufacturing council to James Murdoch, Trump’s response to Charlottesville has severed ties

In the wake of Trump's response to a violent white supremacist rally, "Unite the Right," in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend, several business leaders, council members and media personalities severed ties with the president. Quite a lot actually.

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