Kushner keeps most of his real estate but offers few clues about potential White House conflicts
Kushner
As chief executive of  his  familyâs real estate empire   Jared Kushner  planned two apartment projects across the street from each other in Jersey City.
Both would be luxury skyscrapers  complete with retail space and sweeping views of the Manhattan skyline. A new crosswalk would connect them  intended to link the two Kushner Cos. developments practically and visually.
But when  Kushner  prepared an ethics plan ahead of joining the White House as a top adviser to  his  father-in-law  President Trump  he drew a curious distinction between the two projects. He sold his stake in one while keeping his share of up to $5 million in the other.
 Kushner   36  who is emerging as a singularly powerful figure in the Trump White House  is keeping nearly 90 percent of  his  vast real estate holdings even after resigning from the family business and pledging a clear divide between  his  private interests and public duties.
The value of  his  retained real estate interests is between $132 million and $407 million and could leave  him  in a position to financially benefit from  his  familyâs business.
The documents reflect the opaque decisions that  Kushner  and  his  attorneys made to allow  him  to keep much of  his  outside investments while seeking to remain within the boundaries that government ethics officials would find acceptable.
 Kushner âs form lists hundreds of private companies. Some of the investments  he  kept are held by shell companies that are virtually impossible to track  and  Kushner  has declined to make public more information on those entities.
The 124 real estate assets that  Kushner  has kept include residential real estate in suburban Maryland  a Times Square retail complex  and apartments across the Midwest  from Toledo to the small town of Speedway   Ind. Kushner  also kept  his  stake in a New Jersey mobile-home park.
 His  decision to divest from one of the Jersey City projects  One Journal Square  gained attention this month after  his  sister appeared at a conference in China promoting the use of a special U.S. visa program to lure investors for the development and publicly noting  her brotherâs  connection to the president.
The White House said  Kushner  had recused  himself  from discussions of the EB-5 visa program.
It is not clear from  Kushner âs financial filings whether any of  his  holdings might intersect with  his  broad and evolving responsibilities in the White House. This week   Kushner  has been close by the president during the administrationâs first international trip  with stops in Saudi Arabia  Israel  the Vatican  Belgium and Italy.
 Kushner  rejected a request by The Washington Post to review  his  ethics agreement with the White House  which would lay out the topics that  he  has pledged to avoid because of concerns about conflicts of interest. White House officials have said that it is a long-standing policy for the agreements to remain confidential.
As a result  ethics experts say   Kushner  is asking Americans to take  his  word for it.
 Kushner  declined to comment for this article. One of  his  attorneys  former Clinton administration Justice Department official Jamie Gorelick  said that they were âstriving for simplicityâ in choosing which assets to sell and which ones to keep to minimize potential areas of conflict.
For instance   Kushner  sold  his  interests in 666 Fifth Avenue  the companyâs landmark building in Manhattan  because it may be refinanced and posed many uncertainties.
 He  also sold  his  interests in a venture capital firm because of its investments in broad sectors of the economy  including a health-care company. Had  he  kept  his  interests   Kushner  might have needed to recuse  himself  from discussions related to health care or risk violating a conflicts of interest statute.
As chief executive of  his  familyâs real estate empire   Jared Kushner  planned two apartment projects across the street from each other in Jersey City.
Both would be luxury skyscrapers  complete with retail space and sweeping views of the Manhattan skyline. A new crosswalk would connect them  intended to link the two Kushner Cos. developments practically and visually.
But when   [TGT] prepared an ethics plan ahead of joining the White House as a top adviser to  his  father-in-law  President Trump  he drew a curious distinction between the two projects. He sold his stake in one while keeping his share of up to $5 million in the other.
  [TGT] is keeping nearly 90 percent of   [TGT]   vast real estate holdings even after resigning from the family business and pledging a clear divide between   [TGT]   private interests and public duties.
The value of   [TGT]   retained real estate interests is between $132 million and $407 million and could leave   [TGT]   in a position to financially benefit from   [TGT]   familyâs business.
The documents reflect the opaque decisions that  Kushner  and  his  attorneys made to allow  him  to keep much of  his  outside investments while seeking to remain within the boundaries that government ethics officials would find acceptable.
  [TGT]  âs form lists hundreds of private companies. Some of the investments   [TGT]   kept are held by shell companies that are virtually impossible to track  and   [TGT] has declined to make public more information on those entities.
The 124 real estate assets that   [TGT] has kept include residential real estate in suburban Maryland  a Times Square retail complex  and apartments across the Midwest  from Toledo to the small town of Speedway    [TGT] also kept   [TGT]   stake in a New Jersey mobile-home park.
  [TGT]   decision to divest from one of the Jersey City projects  One Journal Square  gained attention this month after  his  sister appeared at a conference in China promoting the use of a special U.S. visa program to lure investors for the development and publicly noting  her brotherâs  connection to the president.
The White House said   [TGT] had recused   [TGT]   from discussions of the EB-5 visa program.
It is not clear from   [TGT]  âs financial filings whether any of   [TGT]   holdings might intersect with   [TGT]   broad and evolving responsibilities in the White House. This week    [TGT] has been close by the president during the administrationâs first international trip  with stops in Saudi Arabia  Israel  the Vatican  Belgium and Italy.
  [TGT] rejected a request by The Washington Post to review   [TGT]   ethics agreement with the White House  which would lay out the topics that   [TGT]   has pledged to avoid because of concerns about conflicts of interest. White House officials have said that it is a long-standing policy for the agreements to remain confidential.
As a result  ethics experts say    [TGT] is asking Americans to take   [TGT]   word for it.
  [TGT] declined to comment for this article. One of   [TGT]   attorneys  former Clinton administration Justice Department official Jamie Gorelick  said that they were âstriving for simplicityâ in choosing which assets to sell and which ones to keep to minimize potential areas of conflict.
For instance    [TGT] sold   [TGT]   interests in 666 Fifth Avenue  the companyâs landmark building in Manhattan  because it may be refinanced and posed many uncertainties.
  [TGT]   also sold   [TGT]   interests in a venture capital firm because of its investments in broad sectors of the economy  including a health-care company. Had   [TGT]   kept   [TGT]   interests    [TGT] might have needed to recuse   [TGT]   from discussions related to health care or risk violating a conflicts of interest statute.