Kushner adds lawyer from Gawker case to legal team: report

Senior White House aide Jared Kushner has retained the lawyer who represented Hulk Hogan in his case against Gawker Media that eventually led to the site’s shutdown, according to a new report.

{mosads}Vanity Fair reported on Tuesday that Kushner has retained Charles Harder to represent him as the special counsel investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia widens.

Harder previously represented former wrestler Hulk Hogan in his dispute against Gawker. In March of 2016, a jury awarded Hogan with $115 million in compensatory damages and an additional $26 million in punitive damages in a settlement that wiped out the company.

Harder also until recently represented disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who’s facing numerous allegations of sexual assault and harassment. Shortly after saying he was planning to sue The New York Times — whose bombshell report exposed the accusations against Weinstein — Harder announced he was leaving Weinstein’s legal team, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Kushner has been at the center of the Russia investigation through Robert Mueller’s special counsel office since it was revealed that he was present for a meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian-linked attorney who promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton.

Harder did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.