FILE - In this Nov. 1, 2017, file photo, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington. Politico is reporting that the security clearance of White House senior adviser and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner has been downgraded. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
February 28, 2018 - 7:36 PM
WASHINGTON - The Latest on White House senior adviser Jared Kushner's downgraded security clearance (all times local):
10:30 p.m.
The New York Times reports that two companies made loans worth more than half a billion dollars to Jared Kushner's family real estate firm after executives met with Kushner at the White House.
In a phone call with The Associated Press Wednesday night, Kushner Cos. spokeswoman Christine Taylor confirmed the loans but said the implication that Kushner's position in the White House had affected the company's relationships with lenders is "without substantiation."
Kushner is a White House senior adviser and the son-in-law of President Donald Trump.
A spokesman for Kushner's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, says Kushner "has had no role in the Kushner Companies since joining the government."
The Times reports that private equity firm Apollo Global Management lent $184 million to Kushner Cos., and banking giant Citigroup lent Kushner Cos. and one of its partners $325 million.
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5:20 p.m.
White House senior adviser Jared Kushner has lost his access to the nation's deepest secrets. His credibility as a negotiator may be next.
Kushner's loss of his top-secret clearance could be particularly problematic in his role overseeing the Trump administration's efforts to produce Mideast peace.
The White House insists that Kushner's job will be unaffected by this week's downgrade to his security clearance. But the new limits on Donald Trump's son-in-law's access to information may well curtail his work — and raise questions about his longevity in the West Wing.
Former U.S. and international officials say that even if Kushner stays, his job won't be the same.
News from © The Associated Press, 2018