President-elect Trump indicated Tuesday that he’s interested in finding a role for his son-in-law Jared Kushner in the Middle East peace process, according to reports out of his meeting with the New York Times.
“I asked PEOTUS what role he sees Kushner playing,” New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman tweeted, indicating President-elect Trump. “Indicates formal role unlikely but he could be a player on Mideast peace.”
The Times’ D.C. bureau chief, Elisabeth Miller, summarized it more bluntly. “Trump: Jared Kushner could help make peace between the Israelis and Palestinians,” she tweeted.
Trump’s dependence on his son-in-law and children is well-known to those who follow his business or campaign, but it’s not clear they will be able to play a role in his administration. The Middle East peace process has bedeviled several presidencies and the insertion of Kushner into that diplomacy could, at the least, undermine Trump’s plan to avoid conflicts of interest by turning control of his business over to his daughter, Ivanka Trump, who is married to Kushner.
Federal law bars public officials from hiring a family member to government offices under their authority. The 1967 law was passed in response to John F. Kennedy’s decision to appoint his brother, Robert F. Kennedy, to lead the Justice Department.
“When push comes to shove, on the very hardest calls that confront a president, you want the president’s adviser to remember that their oath or affirmation to the Constitution comes first, before family ties,” Norman L. Eisen, who served as ethics counsel under President Obama, told the Times. “You need to be able to say no. You need to be able to hold the line. You need to be able to threaten to resign, and you need to be able to actually resign. You can’t resign from being somebody’s son-in-law.”
