Hillary Clinton helped pave the way for Jared Kushner in the White House

In 1967, then President Lyndon B. Johnson signed an anti-nepotism bill into law that was widely seen as a reaction to his disapproval of the appointment of Robert Kennedy in John F. Kennedy’s previous administration. The law became an issue once again in 1993 when two federal appeals court judges in Washington, D.C., ruled that the law did not apply to White House staff.

At the time, then President Bill Clinton had appointed his wife, Hillary, to lead health care reform efforts in his administration.

“We doubt that Congress intended to include the White House or the Executive Office of the President” in the statute, D.C. Circuit Judge Laurence Silberman wrote in the decision with Judge Stephen Williams. “So, for example, a President would be barred from appointing his brother as Attorney General, but perhaps not as a White House special assistant.” The judges added that the statute may only bar related individuals from paid positions in government…

Jonathan Turley, a professor of law at the George Washington University Law School, said the ambiguity of the anti-nepotism law allowed Clinton to retain her position and potentially could green-light Kushner as well.