President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner is being accused by Democratic National Committee (DNC) lawyers of avoiding a court summons from a lawsuit alleging that the Trump campaign conspired with Russia against Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.
Kushner, who serves as a senior White House adviser, has dodged being served the summons at least a half-dozen times since last month, DNC lawyers claimed in a court filing Tuesday.
Lawyers had no success in three attempts to deliver the documents in June, because someone at Kushner's apartment in Manhattan would not accept them.
At Kushner's home in Washington, D.C., a Secret Service agent told the process server to "figure out another way to attempt service," CNN reported. In late June, lawyers sent the documents by certified mail to Kushner, but the U.S. Postal Service said no one was home to sign and they were returned to the sender.
Finally, a process server in Manhattan "tried to serve the doorperson, security guard, or mail clerk at Kushner's New York residence, or alternative to affix a copy of the service packet to Kushner's door, but the staff at Kushner's building did not accept service," the DNC stated in the court filing.
Joseph Sellers, an attorney representing the DNC, asked the court on Tuesday if the summons could be mailed first-class to Kushner's house in Washington, D.C. "Plaintiff's counsel is confident that Kushner and his family live there. Mail sent to that address is reasonably calculated to reach him," Sellers wrote, according to Politico.
But U.S. District Court Judge John Koeltl denied Sellers's motion on Wednesday on the grounds that the DNC "has not yet established the impracticability of other means of serving Kushner," and suggested they try Kushner's lawyer.
"Service is not intended to be a game for the serving party or the party to be served," Koeltl wrote. "The court is confident that the DNC's counsel can contact Kushner's counsel and arrange a mutually convenient means to effectuate service."
DNC alleges Secret Service blocked serving lawsuit to Jared Kushner. Judge tells them to find Kushner's lawyer @CNNPolitics https://t.co/ArBKiOwAv6 with @noahgraycnn
— Kara Scannell (@KaraScannell) July 18, 2018
A lawyer for Kushner and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Newsweek on Wednesday.
The DNC sued the Trump campaign, Russia and WikiLeaks in April, alleging they interfered in the election in a "brazen attack on American democracy." Beside Kushner, defendants include Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort and former adviser Roger Stone.
The accusation against Kushner arrived as Trump is scrutinized for having failed to criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin in a joint press conference days after the Justice Department indicted 12 Russians as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the election.
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