Jared Kushner shopping for new criminal attorney: Report

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner is reportedly considering hiring a new criminal lawyer because his current lawyer, Jamie Gorelick, has connections to Robert Mueller, the special counsel handing the Russia investigation.

Gorelick and Mueller were colleagues at the Washington-based firm WilmerHale.

“After the appointment of our former partner Robert Mueller as special counsel, we advised Mr. Kushner to obtain the independent advice of a lawyer with appropriate experience as to whether he should continue with us as his counsel,” according to a statement Ms. Gorelick issued Sunday to the New York Times.

Kushner‘s staff started talking with top criminal attorneys last month following reports President Trump‘s son-in-law met with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak during the transition period about creating a secret channel of communication between the incoming administration and Moscow.

Kushner may have later met with Sergey Gorkov, chief of the Russian-owned development bank Vnesheconombank, a key detail U.S. investigators have not confirmed.

The congressional committees and federal officials are probing whether anyone in Trump‘s campaign had inappropriate or illegal contact with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.

A new hire would replace or supplement Gorelick as Kushner‘s legal face. Abbe D. Lowell, a trial lawyer who is currently defended Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., has been contacted about the position, according to the New York Times.