The apartment company owned by Jared Kushner, senior adviser and son-in-law of President Donald J. Trump, has asked a federal judge in Maryland to hide the names of the firm’s investors to protect them from what it says has been unfair media coverage of a lawsuit filed by Baltimore-area tenants.

“Given the tenor of the media’s reporting of this case, including politically-motivated innuendo no doubt intended to disparage the First Family, there is foreseeable risk of prejudice to the privacy rights and reputations of innocent private investors,” Westminster Management wrote in court papers filed last week.

Two tenants filed a class-action lawsuit in Baltimore Circuit Court in late September saying the firm has charged them improper fees and threatened eviction to force payment.

A judge moved the case to the U.S. District Court of Maryland this month after Westminster invoked a rule that allows such a transfer if the defendants are not residents of or companies in Maryland.

Westminster Management said in a court filing that four of its members reside in other states: Kushner, “a resident of New York, New York and Washington, D.C.,” his parents, Charles and Seryl Kushner of New York, and Westminster MGT GP Corp. of New York. In a separate filing, Westminster says Jared Kushner and his brother, Josh, are members of another corporate entity, JK2 Westminster, and that all are based in New York. Another entity, Carroll Park Holdings LLC, has one member, Delaware-based Middle River JV LLC.

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump moved to Washington this year after both became advisers for President Trump. Jared Kushner was CEO of the Kushner Cos., the parent company of Westminster Management, from 2008 until Jan. 19, when he stepped down to join the Trump administration. He retains ownership of the firm.

The companies being sued still need to prove to the court that none of their investors are Maryland residents or companies to keep the case in federal court. Westminster Management operates 17 apartment complexes in Maryland, mostly in Baltimore County.

In its filing of Nov. 20, Westminster asked Chief Judge James K. Bredar to shield the identities of other investors because there is “unprecedented interest in this case.”

The media have been “making outrageous allegations, and assigning guilt and illegal conduct not only to the Defendants but to their investor members and the families of those members (including the Trump and Kushner families),” Westminster says.

ddonovan@baltsun.com

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