Kushner defends ‘shadow’ task force charged with skirting transparency law

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner pushed back against complaints by watchdogs about his ‘shadow’ coronavirus task force and its “entrepreneurial approach,” an effort they say operates with little public oversight.

The effort operates in parallel to Vice President Mike Pence’s official task force. But watchdogs complained that laws might be being violated because, where members of Pence’s team join Trump most nights to brief journalists on their plans and findings, Kushner’s crew of public officials and private sector individuals is mostly out of sight, and private sector members are using private email to communicate about government business, according to reports.

“The president instructed me [to] knock down every barrier needed to make sure that the teams can succeed,” Kushner said on Thursday about his efforts to mobilize resources quickly and efficiently. “This is an effort to make sure that the government is doing things that the government doesn’t normally do, where we’re stretching, where [we] are acting very quickly,” said Kushner during an unusual appearance at the task force briefing.

Kushner took pains to stress that his efforts came at the request of the vice president, pushing back on reports that his team was acting outside the bounds of the task force. The two speak “probably five, 10 times a day,” he said, adding that he is in regular contact with the task force’s highly visible public health experts.

“I can assure you, I’m speaking with [task force coordinator] Dr. Birx, [National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director] Dr. Fauci, the vice president, and the president to make sure that I’m accomplishing and focusing on the objectives that the vice president deems a priority,” he said.

Trump pushed back on the allegations by unnamed White House officials: “Or they don’t exist. The fake sources don’t exist.”

More From FoxNews: