White House attorneys looking into loans to Kushner's family business

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are seen during a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on March 8, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by AFP)

White House attorneys are looking into millions of dollars given to companies belonging to Senior Advisor to the US president, Jared Kushner, by two other companies.

Apollo Global Management and Citigroup reportedly paid Kushner Cos. millions of dollars in loans, an issue initially raised by Illinois Democratic Representative: Raja Krishnamoorthi, after reports emerged that the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump had met with executives from the company.

The loans reportedly total more than $500 million.

David Apol, the acting director of the Office of Government Ethics, said in a letter obtained by The Wall Street Journal that he spoke with the White House Counsel’s Office about Krishnamoorthi’s concerns.

“I have discussed this matter with the White House Counsel’s Office in order to ensure that they have begun the process of ascertaining the facts necessary to determine whether any law or regulation has been violated and whether any additional procedures are necessary to avoid violations in the future,” Apol wrote. “During that discussion, the White House informed me that they had already begun this process. I have asked the White House to inform me of the results of that process,”

A Citigroup spokeswoman asserted later that the company’s ties with Kushner, Ivanka Trump’s husband, had nothing to do with his role at the White House.

Trump’s Jewish son-in-law had his security clearance downgraded from "top secret" to "secret” last month.

He is also a person of interest in the ongoing probe into Russia’s alleged intervention in the 2016 presidential election that yielded President Trump.