Son-in-Law-in-Chief Jared Kushner has always looked like The Unsolvable Nepotism Case, the White House employee second only to Ivanka Trump in terms of job security. President Trump, after all, likes to keep it in the family, like a mom-and-pop restaurant or the government of a banana republic. But according to reports in The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post Monday night, Kushner's place as the Secretary of Everything came under threat this summer when the president's legal team debated whether he should be encouraged to resign as the scope and depth of the Russia probe continued to grow. About this, the Princeling surely cannot be pleased.

According to the Journal, which first reported on the news, some members of Trump's legal team openly advocated forcing a Kushner resignation in July, shortly before a shake-up to that team. The legal types' reasoning was straightforward: Reports continued to surface that Kushner had taken more and more meetings with Russian officials and business people, to the point he had the most dealings with them of any member of Trump's inner circle. That's non-ideal when your associates are under investigation for possibly colluding with Russian officials to influence the election.

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We now know of at least four get-togethers, including the Trump Tower meeting with a Kremlin-connected lawyer organized by Business Card Aficionado Donald Trump, Jr. Kushner, Junior, and Paul Manafort not only neglected to mention that meeting happened, they subsequently neglected to mention that the rendezvous involved at least eight people, including multiple figures even beyond the lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, who probably know their way around Moscow. That was part of a larger pattern of misrepresenting the meeting, particularly from Trump the Younger, who repeatedly mischaracterized it in statements, beginning with the claim that it was solely about "Russian adoption." Subsequent emails secured by The New York Times—and tweeted by Junior, after the Times asked for comment, before the paper could publish them—showed the presidential scion took the meeting specifically after he was offered dirt on Hillary Clinton. (“If it’s what you say I love it, especially later in the summer.”)

The lawyers were concerned as the risk continued to grow that Kushner's escapades could expose the president to further scrutiny—even, according to the Post, through "casual conversations." That included conversations with the president without a lawyer present, or conversations with White House staff. If Kushner were to discuss the investigation or the meetings with staffers, according to the Journal, they could "face inquiries from [Robert] Mueller's agents." The lawyers also worried the probe would inhibit Kushner's ability to do his job, which includes securing peace in the Middle East, solving the opioid epidemic, and modernizing the government. All of the government.

More than that, Kushner omitted any mention of contacts with any foreign officials from his security clearance application. Subsequently, he went back and added over 100 contacts, including the Russian meetings. This detail seems to go largely overlooked, but in The New York Times' formulation, "knowingly falsifying or concealing material facts [on a security clearance form] is a federal felony that may result in fines or up to five years imprisonment."

"Knowingly falsifying or concealing material facts is a federal felony."

The legal team wasn't united at the time, according to the Journal. John Dowd, a then-member who has since risen to lead the team, told the paper, “I didn’t agree with that view at all. I thought it was absurd," adding that Kushner is “absolutely terrific” and “a great asset, real gentleman, a pleasure to work with.” Ty Cobb, a splendidly named more recent addition to the team, told the Post that this was all an attempt to tarnish Kushner, who is “among the President’s most trusted, competent, selfless and intelligent advisers.”

Yet the Journal holds that discussions went far enough that some members of the legal team aired their concerns to President Trump directly in June, including in at least one White House get-together. Press aides to the legal team even began drafting a statement explaining Kushner's exit in the case he really was defenestrated. That would seem to indicate discussions went very far indeed, though Dowd disputed to the Journal that the proposal was brought to the president—at least "to his knowledge." Marc Kasowitz, Trump's longtime lawyer who led the team at the time, echoed that in a statement.

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But the Journal's account is extensive, and even includes details on Kushner's would-be resignation statement. The legal team's anxiety seems to have been firmly tied to the potential revelation of the Trump Tower meeting—so it seems they were justified. Even before the meeting became public, they developed talking points to manage the situation, including the resignation. Apparently, it "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."

That strategy was never used, and the legal team as it was then assembled soon ceased to be. Kasowitz stepped away from his leadership role, Dowd assumed it, and new characters like Cobb entered the fold. So far, Kushner remains the Secretary of Everything, even as two congressional probes and the relentless Robert Mueller dig into his activity during the campaign and transition. For now, it seems, the Son-in-Law-in-Chief will just need to concentrate on solving the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Jack Holmes Politics Editor Jack Holmes is the Politics Editor at Esquire, where he writes daily and edits the Politics Blog with Charles P Pierce.

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