WASHINGTON — (CNN) Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, will be senior adviser to the president, a senior transition official told CNN Monday.
The 35-year-old businessman-turned-political strategist played a key part in his father-in-law’s presidential campaign and his new position is expected to test the limit of federal anti-nepotism rules.
The move comes ahead of a Wednesday news conference in which Trump is expected to detail how he plans to manage his company’s potential conflicts-of-interest after he enters the White House.
Trump is expected to make clear in the presser that Ivanka Trump, Kushner’s wife, will not be running Trump’s company.
Kushner is related to the President-elect by marriage, but a 1967 law specifies “son-in-law” as a type of relative covered by the regulations.
Even as the Trump transition is expected to announce how Kushner’s appointment won’t violate anti-nepotism laws, Kushner, who owns his own real estate development firm, has continued to chase deals that raise questions about conflicts of interest.
Kushner met with a powerful Chinese business magnate in the week after his father-in-law’s election as he sought to finalize a deal for the purchase of one of his most prized properties on Fifth Avenue, the New York Times reported, raising ethical questions.
Neither Kushner nor Trump have publicly commented on the concerns of nepotism.
Kushner, who is an observant Jew, first took a role in his father’s presidential campaign advising him on US policy toward Israel and helped write the speech Trump delivered to AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby.
But his role quickly ballooned from there as he became a hugely influential figure in his father-in-law’s campaign, wielding power over much of the campaign’s strategy and data operation.
Since then, Kushner has become a key adviser and power broker to the president-elect during the transation, serving as a point of contact for powerful business interests, foreign governments and other powerful figures.
Kushner and Ivanka Trump recently picked a Washington home to move into, making a role for Kushner in the White House almost inevitable.
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