Valerie Jarrett Suggests Obama Cabinet Picks Didn't Have Any Conflicts of Interest
President Obama's senior adviser Valerie Jarrett appeared on CNN to discuss Obama's farewell address, set for Tuesday night. CNN's Alisyn Camerota asked Jarrett about Trump's appointment of his son-in-law Jared Kushner to the role of senior adviser. Jarrett dodged the question but told Camerota: "What I can tell you, though, having co-chaired President Obama's transition, […]
President Obama's senior adviser Valerie Jarrett appeared on CNN to discuss Obama's farewell address, set for Tuesday night.
CNN's Alisyn Camerota asked Jarrett about Trump's appointment of his son-in-law Jared Kushner to the role of senior adviser.
Jarrett dodged the question but told Camerota: "What I can tell you, though, having co-chaired President Obama's transition, is that he said to his lawyers 'tell me where the lines are and then I'm going to color well within the lines.' He did that with the appointments in the White House and he also did that with his Cabinet. He wanted to make sure that our due diligence was done ahead of time."
Obama has nominated several people to Cabinet-level positions who were forced to withdraw their nomination for ethical reasons, however:
Chas Freeman, Obama's nominee to chair the National Intelligence Council, withdrew "over questions about payments from the Saudi Arabian government."
Former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD) withdrew his nomination for Health and Human Services Secretary "after it was discovered he failed to property pay his taxes."
Nancy Killefer withdrew her nomination from the government's chief performance office because of "tax problems."
Jide Zeitlin, who Obama nominated to serve as U.S ambassador to the United Nations, withdrew his nomination after it being "accused of identify fraud and improper business practices."
Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (D), who Obama nominated to become Commerce secretary, had to withdraw his nomination after he was caught up in a major pay-for-play scandal.