Some of President Donald Trump’s lawyers earlier this summer concluded that Jared Kushner should step down as senior White House adviser because of possible legal complications related to a probe of Russia’s involvement in the 2016 presidential election and aired concerns about him to the president, people familiar with the matter said.

Among their concerns was that Mr. Kushner was the adviser closest to the president who had the most dealings with Russian officials and businesspeople during the campaign and transition, some of which are currently being examined by federal investigators and congressional oversight panels. Mr. Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and confidant, has said he had four such meetings or interactions.

Another issue was Mr. Kushner’s initial omission of any contacts with foreign officials from the form required to obtain a security clearance. He later updated the form several times to include what he has said were more than 100 contacts with foreign officials.

The president’s lawyers were not united in the view that Mr. Kushner should step down.

U.S. investigators are looking into contacts between several current and former associates of Donald Trump and Russian individuals—some with direct ties to the Russian government or state-owned entities. WSJ's Niki Blasina provides a who's who of the Russians at the center of the investigations.

John Dowd, who first joined the legal team in June and now heads it, said in an interview Monday that “to my knowledge” the proposal wasn’t taken to Mr. Trump. Mr. Dowd also said he did not side with some of his colleagues who believed Mr. Kushner needed to go.


“I didn’t agree with that view at all. I thought it was absurd,” Mr. Dowd said. “I made my views known.” He called Mr. Kushner “absolutely terrific” and “a great asset, real gentleman, a pleasure to work with.”

After some members of the legal team aired their concerns to Mr. Trump in June, including in at least one meeting in the White House, press aides to the legal team began to prepare for the possibility that Mr. Kushner would step down, drafting a statement explaining his departure, said people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Trump wasn’t persuaded that Mr. Kushner needed to leave. One person said Mr. Trump’s view was that Mr. Kushner hadn’t done anything wrong and that there was no need for him to step down.

As U.S. sanctions against Russia for its interference in the 2016 presidential election move forward, here's a look at various contacts between President Trump's associates and Russians. WSJ's Shelby Holliday explains why each contact is significant. Photo: Getty

The legal team has been reshuffled since it was first assembled in late May, after the Justice Department appointed Special Counsel Robert Mueller to oversee the federal probe of Russian interference in the U.S. election. In mid-July, Mr. Dowd took over leadership of the team from Marc Kasowitz, Mr. Trump’s longtime attorney.


Mr. Kasowitz in a statement said: “I never discussed with other lawyers for the President that Jared Kushner should step down from his position at the White House, I never recommended to the President that Mr. Kushner should step down from that position and I am not aware that any other lawyers for the President made any such recommendation either.”

According to a January report from the U.S. intelligence agencies, the highest levels of the Russian government directed electoral interference. Its tactics included hacking state election systems; infiltrating and leaking information from political strategists; and disseminating through social media and other outlets negative stories about Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, the report said.

Mr. Mueller also is investigating whether anyone in the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. Mr. Kushner has denied any collusion, as has Mr. Trump. Russia also has denied interfering in the election.

“I did not collude, nor know of anyone else in the campaign who colluded, with any foreign government,” Mr. Kushner wrote in a July statement.


Mr. Kushner played a top role in the campaign and oversees a sweeping policy portfolio that includes Middle East peace, China relations and the workings of the federal government. In a measure of the president’s loyalty, Mr. Kushner has often prevailed in battles with internal rivals, according to people familiar with those dynamics. During his time in the White House, several other senior aides have come and gone.

Some of Mr. Trump’s attorneys worried that Mr. Kushner’s continued employment carried risks that could possibly involve other White House officials, a person familiar with the matter said.

If, for example, Mr. Kushner mentioned the probe—even casually in a meeting—aides who heard his remarks could face inquiries from Mr. Mueller’s agents. Some lawyers were also concerned that Mr. Kushner might discuss the probe with the president without a lawyer present.

By June, when the lawyers told the president of their concerns, federal investigators had begun examining a meeting during the transition that included Mr. Kushner and the Russian ambassador to the U.S., and another one that he held with the head of a Russian-run bank that has faced U.S. sanctions.


Trump attorneys were also aware of a meeting that hadn’t yet been made public: one at Trump Tower in June 2016 that involved a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin, Mr. Kushner and the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., according to people familiar with the matter.

That meeting became public on July 8. It was organized by Donald Trump Jr. In a series of evolving statements, the younger Mr. Trump initially said the meeting had covered foreign adoptions. He later released emails showing that, before agreeing to the meeting, he had been promised damaging information about Mrs. Clinton, collected as part of a Russian effort to boost his father’s campaign.

Anticipating that the meeting would become public, members of the legal team in June already had developed talking points to manage the political fallout—including a statement that would explain a potential Kushner resignation. The statement on behalf of Mr. Kushner expressed regret that the political environment had become so toxic that what he viewed as a standard meeting was becoming a weapon for Mr. Trump’s critics, according to two people familiar with the documents.

Those talking points were never used.

Both Mr. Mueller’s office and congressional investigators are looking into the Trump Tower meeting. Donald Trump Jr. met with Senate Judiciary Committee staff last week in a private interview that lasted five hours. He also denied collusion with Russia during the campaign in a statement.

Mr. Kasowitz took on a reduced role less than two weeks after reports of the meeting emerged. His spokesman, Mark Corallo, also resigned.

In July, about two weeks after reports of the Trump Tower meeting first emerged, Mr. Kushner held a closed-door interview with Senate Intelligence Committee staff and released an 11-page statement denying collusion.

In the statement, Mr. Kushner detailed four contacts with Russian officials and businesspeople in the two years since Mr. Trump had launched his presidential campaign. Those contacts included two encounters with the Russian ambassador to the U.S., one in December with the head of a Russian state-run bank under scrutiny by U.S. investigators, and the Trump Tower meeting, which he dismissed as a waste of time.

—Michael C. Bender contributed to this article.

Write to Peter Nicholas at peter.nicholas@wsj.com, Rebecca Ballhaus at Rebecca.Ballhaus@wsj.com, Erica Orden at erica.orden@wsj.com and Anton Troianovski at anton.troianovski@wsj.com