Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner to be named senior adviser

President-elect Donald Trump'sson-in-law, Jared Kushner, will become a senior White Houseadviser and work on trade deals and the Middle East, transitionofficials said on Monday, in a rare case of a close presidentialfamily member taking on a major job.

Kushner, 35, who is married to Trump's daughter Ivanka, istaking the job after receiving legal counsel he would not beviolating a U.S. anti-nepotism law based on court rulings thatthe statute does not apply to the White House. The position doesnot require U.S. Senate confirmation.

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Ivanka Trump, who like her husband has been a trustedadviser to the president-elect, will not take on a role in her father's White House but will focus instead on settling herfamily in Washington.

Both of the Trumps will undertake significant divestments oftheir wide-ranging financial portfolios as they prepare fortheir move to Washington from New York and face inevitablequestions about a potential conflict of interest.

Kushner emerged as an important voice early in Trump's campaign and was involved in almost every aspect of it, from key personnel decisions to strategy and fundraising.

'We have the better argument'

Senior transition officials and a lawyer for Kushner laid out the arrangement in a conference call with a small group of reporters.

Kushner is to work closely with incoming White House chiefof staff Reince Priebus and senior strategist Steve Bannon inadvising the new president. Officials said he would focus, at least in the beginning, on trade policy and the Middle East.

Jamie Gorelick, a New York lawyer who served as deputy attorney general for former president Bill Clinton, helped advise Kushner on whether he would violate a 1967 anti-nepotism statute and said he would not.

"I'm not saying that there isn't an argument on the otherside, and I respect the people who have made the argument on theother side. I just think we have the better argument," she said.

Gorelick said Congress in 1978 authorized the president to hire personnel for the White House office "without regard" to federal personnel laws like the anti-nepotism statute,and that the Justice Department had described that authority as unfettered and sweeping.

"Even without that law, two D.C. Circuit decisions stronglysuggest that the White House Office is not an 'agency' under theanti-nepotism statute, a position supported by the views of theJustice Department under presidents Bill Clinton and George W.Bush," Gorelick said.

Divestments to come

In order to comply with federal ethics laws and after consulting the Office of Government Ethics, Kushner will take a number of steps to divest substantial assets, Gorelick said.

Kushner will resign from his positions as chief executive of the Kushner Companies and as publisher of the New York Observer newspaper. He will also divest from any interests in the New York Observer, Thrive Capital, 666 Fifth Avenue and any foreign investments.

In addition, Kushner will remove himself from participatingin matters that could have a direct effect on his remainingfinancial interests.

Those interests include real estate in the New York area,Ivanka Trump's interest in the new Trump hotel in Washington andthe Ivanka Trump Brand fashion business, the officials said.

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Ivanka Trump will not participate in the management oroperations of the Trump Organization or the Ivanka Trump brandor fashion business.

She will divest significant assets, including all common stock and resign from all officer and director positions she holds in the Trump Organization.