On Monday afternoon, shortly after he delivered a closed-door testimony to Congress regarding his interactions with Russian officials, Jared Kushner huddled in a governmental office with a select group of advisers, including newly appointed communications director Anthony Scaramucci, who once likened the scion to Alexander Hamilton. Kushner may be President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, but he also commands a sprawling empire of his own. Not only does Kushner oversee the Office of American Innovation, a veritable government-within-the government that helps him manage his seemingly limitless portfolio, which extends from negotiating peace in the Middle East to resolving the country’s opioid crisis, but he is also a pillar in the so-called globalist wing of the White House. This large infrastructure has generally facilitated Kushner’s ability to disseminate his message or wield power from behind the scenes. But on this Monday, the Kushner deep state was getting ready to put the boss out there, front and center, to create their own narrative on a day in which a negative one could easily have been written for them.

In the office, the group gathered for 10 minutes to hammer out the final details and catch everyone up to speed before Kushner greeted the press at the dais. “All of my actions were proper and occurred in the normal course of events of a very unique campaign,” he said, leaning into a microphone, reading from prepared remarks. “I had no improper contacts. I have no relied on Russian funds for my businesses and I have been fully transparent in providing all requested information.”

Kushner is frequently derided for his inexperience in government, but a number of people I’ve interviewed from his past career as a publisher-cum-real-estate-executive have frequently pointed out that he is the first to admit when he does not know what he needs to know, and never hesitates to seek out expert advice. It helps when his rolodex includes media moguls, heads of state, and titans of technology and business. This, in some ways, explains how he organized a circle of friends in New York that included Rupert Murdoch and Stephen Schwarzman, and many others who were well beyond his years of experience. And so it isn’t entirely surprising that Kushner has surrounded himself with heavy hitters. He brought Reed Cordish, another real-estate family heir with whom he has been friendly for years, to spearhead large swaths of his O.A.I., along with Chris Liddell, the former C.F.O. of G.M. and Microsoft, to take on technology aspects of his agenda. He brought on two heavy hitters to make up his legal team, Jamie Gorelick, and more recently, Abbe Lowell, and armed himself with a P.R. team both in and outside of the White House.

But, despite their collective weight, his team has been operating mostly on the defense. As a result, they have often spent time reacting in real time, which tends to make a situation seem more chaotic, or, worse, as though there is something to hide. Every time some new piece of investigation about Russia’s election meddling that involved Kushner would break, they would rush to respond and explain. This is what happened in March, when The New York Times first broke the story that Kushner had met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the transition; when it emerged that he had a sit-down with Russian banker Sergey Gorkov; and again when it came out that Kushner had discussed establishing a secret, secure connection with the Kremlin—all interactions that are being looked at as part of the F.B.I.’s criminal probe.