Jared Kushner

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Jared Kushner’s lawyer steps down from Russia case

Attorney Jamie Gorelick's exit from Russia-related matters is part of a White House shakeup.

 

Andrew Wyrich

Tech

Posted on Jul 14, 2017   Updated on May 22, 2021, 11:49 pm CDT

The lawyer hired by Jared Kushner to represent him in all matters revolving around the Russia investigation has turned over her responsibilities to another lawyer.

Jamie Gorelick, who had been in charge of defending Kushner amid the growing probe, will turn over her duties to Abbe Lowell, a criminal defense attorney who has represented John Edwards and Jack Abramoff.

Gorelick will continue to represent Kushner on ethics and issue around his security clearance form, according to Yahoo News. Gorelick said her decision to move off of the Russia probe was because Robert Mueller III, the special counsel investigating President Donald Trump’s staff as part of the Russia investigation, was a partner at her law firm.

“As we have stated, once Bob Mueller and three of our partners left the firm to form the special counsel’s office, we advised Mr. Kushner to get independent legal advice on whether to continue with us as counsel,” Gorelick said in a statement to Yahoo News. “As a result of this process, Abbe is now responsible for the Russia-related inquiries. We continue to work on the matters for which we were originally retained, with regard to ethics compliance, etc.”

Gorelick, a former deputy attorney general, had campaigned for 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and was considered a front runner to be attorney general had Clinton been elected in November, the National Law Journal reported.

Several other members of the President Donald Trump’s administration have lawyered up amid the probe, including Vice President Mike Pence and his son, Donald Trump Jr.

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*First Published: Jul 14, 2017, 4:41 pm CDT