Kushner meets with lawmakers about criminal justice reform: report

President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner reportedly met with key senators on Thursday morning to discuss stalled efforts at criminal justice reform.

Kushner was seen entering Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley’s (R-Iowa) office on Thursday morning, and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who supports criminal justice reform, walked in soon after that, BuzzFeed News reported.

Kushner was reportedly speaking to the lawmakers about legislation that stalled last year in the previous Congress. But Grassley and Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) have both expressed interest in introducing a new bill in the 115th Congress.

{mosads}BuzzFeed reported that Durbin also met with Kushner on Thursday. The meetings could be an early signal that the White House is open to discussing a criminal justice overhaul.

On the campaign trail, President Trump frequently promoted himself as the “law and order” candidate, promising to crack down on crime and provide expanded support for law enforcement officials.

That platform, however, ultimately killed support for the Senate’s reform legislation. What’s more, Trump’s appointment of Jeff Sessions as attorney general was taken as a signal that criminal justice reform would be unlikely under his administration, because of the former Alabama senator’s firm opposition to the matter.

Grassley told BuzzFeed in January that tackling the issue would be easier since the election was over.

“I wouldn’t say there’s not going to be any problems because you’re starting over again,” he said. “But … the election had more to do with it than anything else.”