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Kushner took on Abbe D. Lowell, the newspaper said, joining
other senior administration figures including U.S. Attorney
General Jeff Sessions, Vice President Mike Pence and Trump
himself in hiring private attorneys.
The White House has come under increased scrutiny since
Department of Justice Special Counsel Robert Mueller and a
number of congressional committees launched investigations into
whether there were ties between Russia and Trump's 2016 election
campaign team.
Trump and his key aides have repeatedly denied any collusion
with Moscow.
Mueller is examining Kushner’s meetings with the Russian
ambassador and a Russian banker as part of a broad enquiry, the
New York Times said. But there are no signs that Kushner is the
target of an investigation and Kushner has promised to
cooperate, the newspaper added.
The 36-year-old Kushner, a real estate developer with no
previous government experience, had at least three previously
undisclosed contacts with the Russian ambassador to the United
States during and after the 2016 presidential campaign, seven
current and former U.S. officials told Reuters in May.
When Mueller became special counsel in May, he left a job at
WilmerHale, a legal firm that also employs another lawyer for
Kushner, Jamie Gorelick.
"When Bob Mueller left WilmerHale to become special counsel and
three of our colleagues joined him, we asked Mr. Kushner to get
independent legal advice on whether to continue with us as his
counsel," Gorelick said in a statement to the Times.
"He engaged Abbe Lowell to advise him and then decided to add
Mr. Lowell to the team representing him in the various inquiries
into the Russia matter," she said.
Trump on Monday demanded that investigators apologize for
looking into Russian interference and possible collusion with
his election campaign, accusing predecessor President Barack
Obama of having "colluded or obstructed," but he did not provide
evidence.
Russia has said it did not interfere in the vote.
(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Andrew
Heavens)
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