¶ Highlights:
- Donald Trump gave Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump White House jobs.
- Critics compared Trump’s White House nepotism to authoritarian regimes, monarchies, and real estate empires.
- Jared Kushner was chronically unqualified for the jobs he was given.
- Kushner was a failed businessman and given everything from his father.
- Kushner was initially denied security clearance because of national security concerns, but then Trump overruled national security experts.
- Kushner claimed the White House was run through him.
- Kushner was put in charge of a Middle East plan that was widely panned.
- Kushner was recklessly left in charge of developing Trump’s COVID-19 plan.
- Kushner was a liaison between China and Trump while the trade war escalated out of control.
- Kushner was given a wide range of additional responsibilities in the White House.
- Ivanka Trump was an embarrassment abroad.
- A video released by the French president showed Ivanka Trump awkwardly trying to insert herself among world leaders.
- A White House official promoted Ivanka Trump’s fashion line in a possible ethics violation.
- Eric Trump called nepotism a “beautiful thing.”
- Donald Trump and the RNC helped boost Donald Trump Jr.’s book and publishing company.
- Trump and the RNC helped sell Donald Trump Jr.’s book “Triggered,” making it a New York Times bestseller.
- A publishing house co-founded by Trump Jr. published Trump’s book, which was bought in bulk by Trump’s PACs.
- Donald Trump’s friends and golf club members were given positions in his administration.
- Ben Carson Jr. and his wife used official HUD events for personal business.
- Donald Trump’s friends, customers, and donors got ambassadorships.
- Donald Trump’s campaign’s cronyism and nepotism siphoned money and power to those with close ties to the Trump family.
- Trump affiliates consolidated power within the Republican Party and directed money into their own pockets.
- Lara Trump and Kimberly Guilfoyle were given jobs on the Trump campaign and were paid through Parscale’s private company.
- Trump’s PAC and committees spent millions on companies connected to Trump family and friends.
- Melanie Trump was in the Situation Room for the Al-Baghdadi raid.
- Donald Trump’s family was heavily featured at the 2020 Republican National Convention.
- Donald Trump backed his daughter-in-law Lara Trump for RNC co-chair.
- Donald Trump’s second term could feature more nepotism.
¶ Trump Gave Jared Kushner And Ivanka Trump White House Jobs
¶ Trump Appointed His Daughter And Son-In-Law To White House Positions
January 2017: Jared Kushner Was Named Senior White House Advisor. According to the New York Times, “Jared Kushner will become a senior White House adviser to his father-in-law, Donald J. Trump, cementing the New York real estate executive’s role as a powerful and at times decisive influence on the president-elect.” [New York Times, 1/9/17]
March 2017: Ivanka Trump Was Given An Official White House Role As An “Advisor” To The President. According to CNN, “Ivanka Trump is changing course and will become a government employee in the coming days, a White House official told CNN Wednesday. President Donald Trump's eldest daughter will be an unpaid employee working in the West Wing. 'I have heard the concerns some have with my advising the President in my personal capacity while voluntarily complying with all ethics rules, and I will instead serve as an unpaid employee in the White House Office, subject to all of the same rules as other federal employees,' Ivanka Trump said in a statement. 'Throughout this process I have been working closely and in good faith with the White House counsel and my personal counsel to address the unprecedented nature of my role.' […] Now, Ivanka Trump will be an ‘adviser’ to the President, and will file her own Form 278, which means she is legally bound by the ethics rules.” [CNN, 3/29/17]
- Ivanka Trump’s Role Was To Serve As The President’s “Eyes And Ears” While Providing Broad-Ranging Advice. According to Politico, “In everything but name, Trump is settling in as what appears to be a full-time staffer in her father’s administration, with a broad and growing portfolio — except she is not being sworn in, will hold no official position and is not pocketing a salary, her attorney said. Trump’s role, according to her attorney Jamie Gorelick, will be to serve as the president’s ‘eyes and ears’ while providing broad-ranging advice, not just limited to women’s empowerment issues. Last week, for instance, Trump raised eyebrows when she was seated next to Angela Merkel for the German chancellor’s first official visit to Trump’s White House.” [Politico, 3/20/17]
Trump Considered Naming Ivanka As Head Of The World Bank Or UN Ambassador. According to the Atlantic, “But it’s true that when jobs open up in the Trump administration—a frequent occurrence—Ivanka is at the top of her father’s mind. ‘She’s a natural diplomat,’ Trump said. ‘She would’ve been great at the United Nations, as an example.’ I asked why he didn’t nominate her. ‘If I did, they’d say nepotism, when it would’ve had nothing to do with nepotism. But she would’ve been incredible.’ Warming to the subject, he said, ‘I even thought of Ivanka for the World Bank … She would’ve been great at that because she’s very good with numbers.’” [Atlantic, 4/12/19]
¶ A Federal Anti-Nepotism Statute Prohibited Officials, Including Presidents, From Hiring Family Members To Their Agency
A Federal Anti-Nepotism Statute Stated No Public Official Could Appoint A Relative To Position In Any Agency They Served In Or Had Jurisdiction Over. According to statute, “A public official may not appoint, employ, promote, advance, or advocate for appointment, employment, promotion, or advancement, in or to a civilian position in the agency in which he is serving or over which he exercises jurisdiction or control any individual who is a relative of the public official. An individual may not be appointed, employed, promoted, or advanced in or to a civilian position in an agency if such appointment, employment, promotion, or advancement has been advocated by a public official, serving in or exercising jurisdiction or control over the agency, who is a relative of the individual.” [5 U.S.C. § 3110, accessed 3/4/20]
The President Was Included As A “Public Official” In Anti-Nepotism Statute. According to statute, “’public official’ means an officer (including the President and a Member of Congress), a member of the uniformed service, an employee and any other individual, in whom is vested the authority by law, rule, or regulation, or to whom the authority has been delegated, to appoint, employ, promote, or advance individuals, or to recommend individuals for appointment, employment, promotion, or advancement in connection with employment in an agency;” [5 U.S.C. § 3110, accessed 3/4/20]
- Daughter And Son-In-Law Were Included As A Relative In Anti-Nepotism Statute. According to statute, “‘relative‘ means, with respect to a public official, an individual who is related to the public official as father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, or half sister.” [5 U.S.C. § 3110, accessed 3/4/20]
¶ OLC Released Opinion That The President And White House Employees Were Exempt From Statute On Trump’s First Day In Office
OLC Argued Presidential Appointments To The White Office Were Exempt From Anti-Nepotism Statute. According to opinion, “You have asked whether section 3110 of title 5, U.S. Code, which forbids a public official from appointing a relative ‘to a civilian position in the agency . . . over which [the official] exercises jurisdiction or control,’ bars the President from appointing his son-in-law to a position in the White House Office, where the President’s immediate personal staff of advisors serve. We conclude that section 3110 does not bar this appointment because the President’s special hiring authority in 3 U.S.C. § 105(a) exempts positions in the White House Office from section 3110.” [Application of the Anti-Nepotism Statute to a Presidential Appointment in the White House Office, 1/20/17]
OLC Cited U.S. Statute That Authorized The President To Appoint White House Staff “Without Regard To Any Other Provision Of Law Regulating The Employment Or Compensation Of Persons In The Government Service.” According to statute, “Subject to the provisons [1] of paragraph (2) of this subsection, the President is authorized to appoint and fix the pay of employees in the White House Office without regard to any other provision of law regulating the employment or compensation of persons in the Government service. Employees so appointed shall perform such official duties as the President may prescribe.” [3 U.S. Code § 105, accessed 3/4/20]
¶ Critics Compared Trump’s White House Nepotism To Authoritarian Regimes, Monarchies, And Real Estate Empires
Washington Post: “The Trump Presidency May Be Akin To A Medieval Monarchy.” According to the Washington Post, “The U.S. presidency has always been prone to sultanistic tendencies, but under a Trump presidency what were once isolated incidents have predictably become a way of governing. When the closest advisers, both institutional (like Ivanka and Kushner) and informal (in the case of his two adult sons), are dominated by family members, the decision-making process will not only be erratic and possibly influenced by private family interests but also tend to ignore legal procedures that have also met the test of time. Instead of a ‘team of rivals’ under the rule of law, the Trump presidency may be akin to a medieval monarchy, with decisions made by court politics, not legal procedures.” [Washington Post, 7/26/17]
New York Times: Trump Adopted “The Management Style Of A New York Real Estate Empire, With Family At The Pinnacle.” According to the New York Times, “Other presidents configured their White House hierarchies to mirror experiences in statehouses, on campaigns or at the heads of armies. Mr. Trump intends to adopt the management style of a New York real estate empire, with family at the pinnacle and staff members, however trusted or talented, somewhere below.” [New York Times, 1/9/17]
Washington Post: U.S. Institutions To Protect The Rule Of Law Could Be Disrupted By Family Members Serving To Protect Their Boss Rather Than Their Fellow Citizens. According to the Washington Post, “But that misses a bigger point. Kushner’s very presence points to what critics call a troubling trend in the Trump administration: a tendency to rely on friends and family for policy advice and action. Political scientists who study the world have a term for this: sultanism, or nepotism. And they say it’s bad not just because it’s unfair but also because nepotism leads to corruption and the erosion of the rule of law. Here’s why: In a robust, well-functioning democracy, there are many checks against the abuse of power. There are institutions that establish procedures to regulate decision-making and set limits. These institutions are run by people loyal not to any particular leader, but rather to the rule of law itself. They understand, in theory, that their job is to protect the citizens and the constitution, not their bosses.” [Washington Post, 7/26/17]
¶ Jared Kushner Was Chronically Unqualified For The Jobs He Was Given
¶ Kushner Was A Failed Businessman And Given Everything From His Father
¶ Kushner’s Father Allegedly Donated $5.5 Million And Applied Political Pressure To Get Him Into Harvard And NYU
¶ The Kushners Donated $2.5 Million To Harvard And Allegedly Pressured Senators For Assistance With Jared Kushner’s Harvard Admittance
A Daniel L. Golden Book Alleged That Jared Kushner Gained Access To Harvard After His Father Donated $2.5 Million To The School, Despite Subpar Credentials. According to the Harvard Crimson, “How much is a place at Harvard worth? Hard to say, of course, but if a recently published book by Daniel L. Golden ‘78, ‘The Price of Admissions: How America’s Ruling Class Buys Its Way into Elite Colleges—and Who Gets Left Outside the Gates’ is any indicator, the answer probably ranges in the millions. It might arouse the ire of many that someone like Jared C. Kushner ‘03, despite what could politely be described as modest academic credentials according to the book, gained admission in the wake of a $2.5 million donation from his billionaire father. But even more galling than the thought of filthy lucre corrupting Harvard’s cherished meritocracy is the thought that the same spot could have been sold for a lot more. Filthy lucre, after all, funds useful things like stem cell research and financial aid. Selling our soul, prima facie, can be worth it—as long as we get the right price. The best way to do so is to have an auction.” [Harvard Crimson, 10/4/06]
The Kushners Pressured Senator Frank Lautenberg — Who Had Received More Than $100,000 In Donations From The Kushner Family — To Obtain Senator Ted Kennedy’s Help In Getting Jared Kushner Admitted To Harvard. According to the Daily News, “A stinging new book says Jared Kushner, the 25-year-old new owner of the New York Observer, got into Harvard and NYU Law School the old-fashioned way: Daddy’s money. ‘Jared [below] was certainly not anywhere near the top of his class,’ said his own high-school college counselor, Margo Krebs. ‘It was an unusual choice for Harvard to make.’ But Jared’s admission came on the heels of a $2.5 million pledge to the school from his father, reports Pu-litzer Prize-winning reporter Daniel Golden. His book ‘The Price of Admission: How America’s Ruling Class Buys Its Way into Elite Colleges,’ which names dozens of families including The New York Times’ Sul-zbergers, is out next month. […] But the Kushners also allegedly reached out to Sen. Ted Kennedy, an influential Harvard alum, through New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg. Lautenberg over the years has benefited from nearly $100,000 in campaign donations from the family.” [Daily News, 8/23/06]
¶ The Kushners Gave $3 Million And Favorable Lease Terms To NYU Prior To Jared Kushner’s NYU Law School Admittance
2001: Charles Kushner Pledged $3 Million To New York University. According to New York Magazine, “In 2001, Charlie had pledged $3 million to NYU and was later appointed to the board of trustees.” [New York Magazine, 7/10/09]
New York Magazine: Charles Kushner Leased Three Floors Of The Puck Building To NYU “At Below-Market Rates” In 2003 “As Jared Prepared For Law School.” According to New York Magazine, “In 2003, as Jared prepared for law school, Charlie leased three floors of the Puck Building, which he'd bought in 1999, to the university at below-market rates.” [New York Magazine, 7/10/09]
¶ Kushner’s Father Got Him A Newspaper Company, Which He Later Ran Into The Ground, As A Graduation Present
July 2006: Kushner Entered Negotiations To Buy The Observer. According to the New York Times, “The New York Observer is in discussions over its possible sale to Jared Kushner, the 25-year-old son of Charles B. Kushner, the wealthy New Jersey real estate developer , according to Howard Rubenstein, the publicist.” [New York Times, 7/22/06]
- The New York Observer Was Described As Jared’s “Graduation Present.” According to Time, “What followed was a loyal son’s methodical, strikingly successful campaign of restoration and self-creation, one that happened to track the success story of his future father-in-law, moving to New York to make it big in real estate. The quest began with a purchase that had everything to do with social status. The New York Observer was a weekly newspaper on salmon newsprint with a tiny circulation. But it was read by a Manhattan elite that liked its blend of gossip and intrigue. Kushner bought it for $10 million in cash, stepping in front of a bid that included Robert De Niro’s Tribeca Enterprises, to announce his arrival in Manhattan, at age 25. ‘His graduation present was the Observer,’ says Mirante. It was not Charles Kushner’s first conspicuous investment in his eldest son. In 1998, the father pledged $2.5 million to Harvard, a contribution featured in Daniel Golden’s The Price of Admission, which quoted a counselor at Jared’s prep school as saying his grades and test scores would not themselves justify admission to Harvard, where he was nonetheless admitted.” [Time, 6/1/17]
¶ Kushner Ran The Observer Into The Ground Through “Boneheaded […] And Routine Mismanagement”
Graydon Carter Op-Ed: Kushner Ran The Observer “Right Into The Ditch” Through “Boneheaded Firing And Hiring, And Routine Mismanagement.” According to an op-ed by Graydon Carter in Vanity Fair, “To paraphrase Fran Lebowitz, Trump is an unsuccessful person’s idea of a successful person. His son-in-law, the all-purpose Secretary of Everything, Jared Kushner, is cut from similar cloth. An heir to a sizable New Jersey real-estate concern, he has two signature business initiatives under his belt. In one case, he burdened his family with staggering debt by paying a record price for a badly located office tower at 666 Fifth Avenue. And he bought The New York Observer (a paper I ran at one point), and through boneheaded firing and hiring, and routine mismanagement, he ran this religiously read weekly right into the ditch.” [Vanity Fair- Op-ed- Graydon Carter, 5/18/17]
April 2009: The Observer Lost An Estimated $4 Million Annually. According to the New York Post, “The weekly, which underwent a conversion from its original broadsheet format into a tabloid size after Kushner took over, has been a perennial money loser, with losses estimated at $2 million a year at the time that Kushner arrived. Estimates now peg annual losses at $4 million. In November, all staffers making more than $40,000 a year were asked to take a 5 percent pay cut. Kushner conceded the paper still loses money and acknowledged that he has no forecast for when it might turn a profit.” [New York Post, 4/23/09]
¶ Kushner Lost Millions While In Charge Of His Family’s Real Estate Company
2005: Kushner Became Principal Of Kushner Companies After His Father Went To Prison. According to the Real Deal, “Kushner Cos. is a family firm with a storied legacy. It was started in 1985 by Joseph Kushner, a refugee from Poland who became one of New Jersey’s famed “Holocaust builders,” and his son Charlie. Charismatic and hypercompetitive, Charlie ran the firm until 2005, when he went to prison for tax fraud and witness tampering. His son, Jared, has been the CEO and public face of the firm for over a decade, and was expected to continue leading it for decades more.” [Real Deal, 1/20/17]
¶ Kushner Lost Millions Annually On 666 Fifth Avenue
2006: Kushner Companies Bought 666 Fifth Avenue For $1.8 Billion. According to the Associated Press, “Another day, another New York City real estate record. This time, a Fifth Avenue skyscraper is shredding previous records for prices paid for a single office build-ing anywhere in the country. A New Jersey real estate family, the Kushners, will buy 666 Fifth Ave. from Tishman Speyer Properties for $1.8 billion, beating a $1.72 billion record that Tishman Speyer set in buying the MetLife Building a few streets over. The family says the office tower will raise their profile in New York City. The company also owns a smaller building downtown, but the bulk of its holdings are in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland. ‘This is a great acquisition for our company,’ said Jared Kushner, a principal at Kushner Companies.” [Associated Press, 12/07/06]
2016: 666 Fifth Avenue Lost $10 Million. According to Bloomberg, “Losses widened at the Manhattan office tower co-owned by the family of Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, as debt payments increased in 2016, according to documents filed by the managers of the loans. At 666 Fifth Ave., losses totaled $14.5 million after accounting for loan payments, from about $10 million in 2015, figures filed by LNR Partners show. Net operating income for the period grew 2.7 percent from the prior year to $41.3 million, while debt payments rose 11 percent to $55.8 million. Occupancy at the tower jumped to 80 percent at the end of 2016, a gain from 70 percent in September, the documents show.” [Bloomberg, 4/18/17]
Debt Payments In 2016 Were $55.8 Million. According to Bloomberg, “Losses widened at the Manhattan office tower co-owned by the family of Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, as debt payments increased in 2016, according to documents filed by the managers of the loans. At 666 Fifth Ave., losses totaled $14.5 million after accounting for loan payments, from about $10 million in 2015, figures filed by LNR Partners show. Net operating income for the period grew 2.7 percent from the prior year to $41.3 million, while debt payments rose 11 percent to $55.8 million. Occupancy at the tower jumped to 80 percent at the end of 2016, a gain from 70 percent in September, the documents show.” [Bloomberg, 4/18/17]
¶ Kushner Was Initially Denied Security Clearance Because Of National Security Concerns, But Then Trump Overruled Security Experts
Kushner Was Denied Security Clearance Because Of “Significant Disqualifying Factors,” Such As His Private Business And Personal Conduct, Which Could Have Left Him Exposed To Foreign Influence. According to the Washington Post, “The senior White House official whose security clearance was denied last year because of concerns about foreign influence, private business interests and personal conduct is presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner, according to people familiar with documents and testimony provided to the House Oversight Committee. Kushner was identified only as ‘Senior White House Official 1’ in committee documents released this week describing the testimony of Tricia Newbold, a whistleblower in the White House’s personnel security office who said she and another career employee determined that Kushner had too many ‘significant disqualifying factors’ to receive a clearance.” [Washington Post, 4/3/19]
- The Decision Was Overruled By Trump And A Career Official. According to the Washington Post, “Their decision was overruled by Carl Kline, the career official who then headed the office, according to Newbold’s interview with committee staff. The new details about the internal debate over Kushner’s clearance revives questions about the severity of the issues flagged in his background investigation and Kushner’s access to government secrets. Last year, President Trump directed his then-chief of staff, John F. Kelly, to give Kushner a top-secret security clearance, despite concerns expressed by career intelligence officers.” [Washington Post, 4/3/19]
¶ Kushner Claimed The White House Was Run Through Him
Kushner Claimed That Nearly Everything In The White House Was Run Past Him. According to the New York Times, “Within the White House, overlapping power centers that have viewed each other with suspicion are working to move past discord from the transition, according to officials. Communication is compartmented among different factions. Mr. Priebus weeks ago began his own outreach to business leaders even as Mr. Kushner was already personally emailing some of them. Mr. Kushner has emerged as the most important figure in Mr. Trump’s White House besides the president. He has told several people that all things on nearly every topic ‘run through me,’ according to two people with direct knowledge. He had previously sought to limit Ms. Conway’s influence, according to insiders, although she consistently has Mr. Trump’s ear.” [New York Times, 1/27/17]
¶ Kushner Was Put In Charge Of Middle East Plan That Was Widely Panned
¶ Kushner Was Put In Charge Of Solving Middle East Peace
Politico Magazine: Kushner “Has Been Tasked With Solving One Of The Most Intractable Problems In The World, Bedeviling Republican And Democratic Administrations For Decades: Brokering Peace In The Middle East.” According to Politico Magazine, “Today, Kushner, 36, a former New York City real estate developer with a serene smile and bottomless ambition but no foreign policy experience, has been tasked with solving one of the most intractable problems in the world, bedeviling Republican and Democratic administrations for decades: brokering peace in the Middle East. Kushner, an Orthodox Jew from a tight-knit New Jersey family that has given money to support settlements in the West Bank and made political donations to many Israeli causes, will be at the table with Trump and Netanyahu on Wednesday for their first meeting in the White House, according to a senior administration official. ‘All my life I’ve been hearing that’s the toughest deal in the world to make,’ Trump told a crowd of donors at the Candlelight Dinner on the eve of his inauguration last month. Turning to his son-in-law, he said, ‘If you can’t produce peace in the Middle East, nobody can.’” [Politico Magazine, 2/11/17]
¶ January 2020: The Trump Administration Released Kushner’s Plan For Middle East Peace
January 2020: The Trump Administration Released Kushner’s Plan For Peace In The Middle East. According to Axios, “The Trump administration is expected to release its long-awaited Middle East peace plan on Tuesday, sources familiar with the plan tell me. Between the lines: The Israeli-Palestinian peace plan has been the most secretive effort inside an extraordinarily leaky administration. Not a single detail has leaked for three years about how the Trump administration will propose to divide territory between Israel and the Palestinians. The details have been closely held among Jared Kushner and his small team — Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, special representative for international negotiations Avi Berkowitz, and senior State Department official Brian Hook. Trump’s former negotiator Jason Greenblatt also played a key role in crafting the plan. The Palestinian leadership, which cut off contact with the Trump administration after Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, are totally out of the loop and have preemptively rejected Kushner's effort. And some key allies who have been asked to provide statements of support have yet to see details of the plan.” [Axios, 1/26/20]
¶ Kushner Did Not Understand Relationship Between Saudi Arabia And Israel
In Discussing Potential Saudi Support Of The Newly Unveiled Peace Plan, Kushner Seemed To Overstate Ties Between Saudi Arabia And Israel. According to Bloomberg, “Saudi Arabia shares common goals with Israel and its leadership will approve of much of Donald Trump’s peace plan unveiled on Tuesday, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner said in an interview […] ‘The Saudis don’t have any issues with the Israelis,’ Kushner, a chief architect of the peace proposal, said. ‘Israel is hated by Iran. Saudis are hated by Iran. They have a common enemy and we’ve been able to hopefully bring the countries close together on that.’ Kushner appeared to overstate the ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel. The kingdom has no diplomatic relations with Israel and bans flights between the nations. Saudi royals, particularly the king, are mindful that their public is still pro-Palestinian and that normalizing ties with Israel risks causing a backlash in the kingdom despite sharing Iran as a common enemy.” [Bloomberg, 1/28/20]
¶ Kushner Claimed His Expertise Came From The Fact That He Had “Read 25 Books” On The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
During An Interview With Sky News Arabic, Kushner Stated He’s “Read 25 Books” On The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict And He Had “Been Studying This Now For Three Years.” According to Mediaite, “President Donald Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner defended his job leading the White House’s ‘Middle East peace plan’ by boasting that he’s read ‘25 books’ on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this week. During an interview with Sky News Arabic, Kushner claimed, ‘I’ve been studying this now for three years. I’ve read 25 books on it, I’ve spoken to every leader in the region, I’ve spoken to everyone who’s been involved in this.’” [Mediaite, 1/29/20]
¶ Kushner’s Peace Plan Was Widely Panned
¶ Democratic Senators Dismissed The Peace Plan
A Dozen U.S. Senators Signed A Letter Expressing Concern With Trump’s Middle East Plan Drafted By Kushner. According to a press release from Sen. Van Hollen, “Today, in response to the President’s announcement of his "deal of the century," U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) led a letter together with 11 of his colleagues expressing serious concerns with the Trump Middle East plan. In addition to Senator Van Hollen, the letter was signed by Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), and Tom Carper (D-Del.).” [Press Release—Chris Van Hollen, 1/28/20]
¶ The EU Did Not Approve Of Peace Plan, Highlighting That It Failed To Meet “Internationally Agreed Parameters”
The EU Disapproved Of Trump’s Peace Plan, Saying It Did Not Meet “Internationally Agreed Parameters.” According to NPR, “The European Union expressed major reservations about President Trump's newly unveiled plan to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying it doesn't meet ‘internationally agreed parameters’ on issues such as where Israel's borders should be drawn. […] In a statement, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell stressed that the EU is committed to a ‘negotiated two-State solution, based on 1967 lines, with equivalent land swaps, as may be agreed between the parties, with the State of Israel and an independent, democratic, contiguous, sovereign and viable State of Palestine, living side by side in peace, security and mutual recognition.’” [NPR, 2/4/20]
¶ Kushner’s Plan Was Panned By The Chief Palestinian Negotiator
Palestinian Chief Negotiator Saeb Erakat: Kushner’s Peace Plan “Is The Art Of Dictation, Arrogance, And Blackmail.” According to CNN, “‘For the Palestinians, if they want their people to live better lives, we now have a framework to do it,’ Kushner said. ‘If they don't think that they can uphold these standards, then I don't think we can get Israel to take the risk to recognize them as a state, to allow them to take control of themselves, because the only thing more dangerous than what we have now is a failed state.’ Those remarks prompted a sharp response from Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat who said Kushner had unilaterally decided what a peace settlement would look like. ‘What is left to negotiate? When I said these issues must be negotiated between us and Israel directly, Kushner responded by calling me a failed negotiator, unable to negotiate. He negotiated on my behalf because he knows better than I do what is best for me. This is the art of dictation, arrogance, and blackmail,’ Erakat wrote in a statement to CNN. Palestinian negotiators have not had direct contact with the Trump administration in more than two years and were not part of the plan's presentation, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended at the White House.” [CNN, 1/3/20]
¶ House And Senate Democrats Sought Documents On Kushner’s Business Dealings, Particularly An Investment Backed By Government Of Qatar
Maloney And Wyden Announced They Sought Out Documents From The Pentagon And State Department On Kushner’s Role During Trump Administration. According to the Washington Examiner, “Democrats in the House and the Senate are accelerating their investigation into Jared Kushner's business dealings with consideration to his role in the Trump administration. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) jointly announced they are seeking documents from the Pentagon and the State Department regarding Kushner's ‘role in foreign policy’ while he served as senior adviser to then-President Donald Trump.” [Washington Examiner, 12/7/22]
Maloney And Wyden Suggested Kushner Could Have Pursued Financial Gain In His Official Government Role. According to the Washington Examiner, “‘Mr. Kushner’s foreign financial entanglements and his conduct as Senior White House Adviser suggest that he may have prioritized his own financial interests over the national interest. The pursuit of personal financial gain should not dictate U.S. tax, trade, and national security policies. The ongoing investigations by the Finance Committee and Oversight Committee into these matters will inform potential legislative efforts to prevent future abuses by senior U.S. officials,’ the two wrote in a letter to the State and Defense departments.” [Washington Examiner, 12/7/22]
Maloney And Wyden Were Reportedly Focused On A $1.1 Billion Payment From The Government Of Qatar. According to the Washington Examiner, “The two Democrats are focused on a $1.1 billion payment to Kushner Companies from Brookfield Asset Management for a 99-year lease on 666 Fifth Avenue in New York City using ‘funding from a subsidiary backed by the Government of Qatar,’ per the lawmakers. The Qatari-linked investment provided the bailout for the struggling property needed at the time.” [Washington Examiner, 12/7/22]
¶ Kushner Was Recklessly Left In Charge Of Developing Trump’s COronavirus Plan
Kusher Led “Shadow” COVID-19 Task Force Parallel To Official Task Force, Causing Confusion. According to Business Insider, “Jared Kushner, the son-in-law and senior adviser to President Donald Trump, is leading a ‘shadow’ coronavirus task force and causing confusion in the White House, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. Kushner — who has staffed the team with political allies and private-sector representatives — is charged with improving the country's delivery of healthcare, including creating new drive-thru testing units, according to the report. Kushner was reportedly assigned to the efforts last week at the request of Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading the official White House coronavirus task force. A spokeswoman for Pence told The Post that Pence and Kushner were ‘closely collaborating’ and talking to each other ‘10 times a day.’” [Business Insider, 3/19/20]
¶ Kushner Tasked With Responding To Coronavirus Outbreak, Received Advice From Facebook Group
¶ Kushner’s Sister-In-Law’s Father Sourced Ideas To Combat Coronavirus From Facebook Group
Kushner Took Ideas Ultimately Sourced From Facebook Group Of ER Doctors Solicited By Sister-In-Law’s Father. According to Politico, “Just before midnight Wednesday, a doctor asked a group of fellow emergency room physicians on Facebook how they would combat the escalating coronavirus outbreak. ‘I have direct channel to person now in charge at White House,’ Kurt Kloss wrote in his post. The next morning, after hundreds of doctors responded, Kloss explained why he sought the suggestions: Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, had asked him for recommendations. Kloss, whose daughter is married to Kushner’s brother, sent Kushner 12 recommendations Thursday morning.” [Politico, 3/13/20]
Kloss Followed Up: “Jared Is Reading Now.” According to Politico, “‘Tonight I was asked by Jared through my son-in-law for my recommendations, that’s when I turned to you my fellow BAFERD’s for help,’ he wrote using a nickname for Bad Ass Fucking Emergency Room Doctors. ‘Between patients tonight I have reviewed your responses and will summarize what I am sending to Jared for your PEER review before I send it.’ ‘Jared is reading now,’ Kloss followed up later.” [Politico, 3/13/20]
The White House Denied That Jared Kushner Was In Charge Of Coronavirus Research After Kloss Claimed He Was In Direct Contact With Someone “Now In Charge At White House.” According to Politico, “The Facebook group, EM Docs, has nearly 22,000 members around the globe who are required to provide their credentials to join. The posts about Kushner's request have been removed but a member shared pictures of them with POLITICO. The Spectator first reported on the posts late Wednesday […] ‘In his role as a senior adviser to the president, Jared Kushner is, of course involved in the coronavirus response, but he is not in charge of coronavirus research,’ a White House official said. Kloss solicited recommendations on Facebook just hours after Trump’s brief prime-time address in which the president misrepresented his administration's own actions involving a 30-day ban on foreign visitors from Europe. ‘If you were in charge of Federal response to the Pandemic what would your recommendation be. Please only serious responses,’ he wrote. ‘I have direct channel to person now in charge at White House.’” [Politico, 3/13/20]
¶ Kushner Reportedly Encouraged Trump To Downplay Latest Coronavirus Developments And Pushed To End Social Distancing Measures
Kushner Reportedly Encouraged Trump To Downplay The Latest Coronavirus Developments. According to CNN, “Trump has been publicly downplaying coronavirus' effects, because he thinks doing otherwise could cause further panic in the markets -- and he's been frustrated with officials issuing warnings about the unknowns of the virus's spread. His son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is one aide who has encouraged him to downplay the latest developments, at least publicly, one person says.” [CNN, 2/26/20]
Kushner Supported Ending Social Distancing Measures As “Getting The Country Back From The Doctors.” According to Yahoo News, “As of April 18, the day the interview took place, more than 40,000 Americans had died of COVID-19. Yet Trump had, since mid-March, already begun calling for states to quickly lift coronavirus restrictions even though the experts working for his administration were advising the opposite. ‘It was almost like Trump getting the country back from the doctors. Right?’ Kushner told Woodward. ‘In the sense that what he now did was, you know, he’s going to own the open-up.’ Health experts say that loosening social distancing measures almost certainly resulted in a so-called second wave of the virus that hit Southern states in the late spring and early summer.” [Yahoo News, 10/28/20]
¶ Kushner Falsely Claimed The Federal Stockpile Of Medical Supplies Was Not For The States, Contradicting A Definition That Was Later Changed Online
Kushner Argued That The Federal Stockpile Was “Supposed To Be Our Stockpile” And Did Not Belong To The States. According to USA Today, “When asked about data showing states' need for equipment, Kushner said, ‘The notion of the federal stockpile is that it's supposed to be our stockpile. It's not supposed to be states' stockpiles that they then use.’ He then referred to criticism from governors who say the government has not provided needed medical supplies. ‘When you have governors saying that the federal government hasn't given them what they need, I would encourage you to ask them, have you looked within your state to make sure you haven't been able to find the resources?’ he continued.” [USA Today, 4/3/20]
¶ The Strategic Stockpile Description Was Altered Online After Kushner’s Remarks
The Strategic Stockpile Description Was Altered Online After Kushner’s Remarks. According to Politico, “The official government webpage for the Strategic National Stockpile was altered Friday to seemingly reflect a controversial description of the emergency repository that White House adviser Jared Kushner offered at a news conference Thursday evening. According to a brief online summary on the Department of Health and Human Services website, the stockpile’s role ‘is to supplement state and local supplies during public health emergencies. Many states have products stockpiled, as well.’ But just hours earlier, the text characterized the stockpile as the ‘nation’s largest supply of life-saving pharmaceuticals and medical supplies for use in a public health emergency severe enough to cause local supplies to run out.’ The previous language stated that when ‘state, local, tribal, and territorial responders request federal assistance to support their response efforts, the stockpile ensures that the right medicines and supplies get to those who need them most during an emergency.’ Also stripped from the new summary is a sentence that affirmed the stockpile ‘contains enough supplies to respond to multiple large-scale emergencies simultaneously.’ The revisions come after Kushner argued at the White House coronavirus task force press briefing Thursday that the stockpile’s reserves are the property of the federal government, not the states.” [Washington Post, 4/5/20]
¶ HHS Claimed That The Edits To The Stockpile Description Were In The Works Prior To Kushner’s Remarks
A Spokeswoman For The Department Of Health And Human Services Claimed That The Edits To The Stockpile’s Webpage Had Been In The Works Prior To Kushner’s Remarks. According to Politico, “Katherine McKeogh, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services,said in a statement Friday that the edits to the stockpile’s webpage had been in the works prior to Kushner’s remarks. ‘This is language we have been using in our messaging for weeks now,’ McKeogh said. She added that the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response ‘first began working to update the text a week ago to more clearly explain to state and local agencies and members of the public the role of the [Strategic National Stockpile].’ Another HHS spokesperson also told POLITICO Tuesday that the role of the stockpile ‘is to supplement state and local supplies during public health emergencies, limited displacements, localized disasters and terrorist attacks.’” [Washington Post, 4/5/20]
¶ Kushner’s Appearance At A Coronavirus Press Conference Led Critics To Highlight How An Unqualified Member Of Trump’s Family Held Tremendous Authority In America’s Government
Kushner Made An Appearance At The White House Coronavirus Briefing. According to USA Today, “White House senior advisor Jared Kushner made a rare appearance during Thursday's coronavirus task force briefing, an appearance that drew backlash when he referred to the national stockpile of medical supplies as ‘our stockpile’ and not one belonging to states. Kushner, the president's son-in-law who doesn't often make public appearances, says he has been serving on the coronavirus task force at the direction of Vice President Mike Pence.” [USA Today, 4/3/20]
¶ Pundits And Critics Went After Kushner For Failing Up
Vanity Fair: Jared Kushner Keeps Proving Nepotism Is A Bad Way To Handle Pandemics. [Vanity Fair, 4/3/20]
Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin: An Outbreak Of Incompetence. [Washington Post, Column, 4/3/20]
Guardian: Jared Kushner's Coronavirus Overreach Puts More American Lives On The Line. [Guardian, 4/5/20]
Washington Post’s Paul Waldman: Trump’s Ignorant Son-In-Law Is Running The Coronavirus Response. That’s Unacceptable. [Washington Post, Column, 4/3/20]
¶ Kushner’s Real Estate Holdings Stood To Benefit From Coronavirus Bailout
Kushner’s Companies Were Structured In A Way To Benefit From Federal Coronavirus Aid. According to Politico, “Jared Kushner’s family business could be a prime beneficiary of a provision in the federal recovery bill that allows owners of apartment buildings to freeze federal mortgage payments on low- and moderate-income properties. Kushner Companies, the real estate firm started in 1985 by Kushner’s father, Charles, controls thousands of low- and moderate-housing units across the country, some of which are funded through an $800 million federally backed loan the firm received in 2019. The option for owners to temporarily freeze mortgage payments on low- and moderate-income housing developments, in exchange for promising not to evict tenants who can’t pay their rent, was one of the economic provisions approved by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump last week. It is considered a way to keep lower-income apartment dwellers in their homes, but also shifted the burden of housing them from their landlords to the federal government and taxpayers. Because Kushner Companies, like many real estate companies, establishes buildings as a network of individual LLCs, it may be possible for it to obtain federal help for some buildings even if it has enough money to cover the mortgage payments, said Shekar Narasimhan, an expert in real estate financing and managing partner of the firm Beekman Advisors. ‘Could he take advantage of it? Yes, his company could,’ Narasimhan said. ‘They’re supposed to have deep pockets, but most owners set each building up to an LLC. So in theory, he doesn't have an obligation to write a check.’” [Politico, 4/3/20]
¶ Kushner Was A Liaison Between ChinA ANd Trump While Trade War Escalated Out Of Control
¶ Chinese Officials Cultivated Relationship With Kushner For Direct Access To Trump
China Looked To Court Kushner And Ivanka Trump In Order To Influence Trump. According to Bloomberg, “Ivanka’s public meeting -- lauded in China’s press -- came after behind-the-scenes meetings between Cui and Jared Kushner, her husband and a presidential adviser. Kushner and Cui have had an extensive ongoing dialogue that has been positive, according to a White House official who asked not to be identified because the meetings were private. As countries around the world figure out how to influence the new U.S. administration, China is going straight to the top: Trump’s immediate family. In bypassing more traditional diplomatic channels such as the State Department, China is looking to open a more direct link to help avoid a trade war or military confrontation after Trump signaled a willingness to challenge Beijing’s red lines on Taiwan and the South China Sea.” [Bloomberg, 2/7/17]
China Looked To Cultivate Relationship With Kushner And Ivanka For Link To Trump. According to Salon, “President Trump may talk tough about China, but the Chinese government seems to have figured out a potential vulnerability in his armor — his son-in-law and daughter, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. Kushner met with China’s ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, at the Chinese Embassy in Washington for the Lunar New Year Celebration on Wednesday, as Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. Later that evening, Ivanka and her daughter Arabella were filmed celebrating the Chinese New Year with music and puppets. At one point Ivanka even went to Twitter to post a video of Arabella singing a song in Mandarin. ‘As countries around the world figure out how to influence the new U.S. administration, China is going straight to the top: Trump’s immediate family,’ reports Bloomberg. ‘In bypassing more traditional diplomatic channels such as the State Department, China is looking to open a more direct link to help avoid a trade war or military confrontation after Trump signaled a willingness to challenge Beijing’s red lines on Taiwan and the South China Sea.’ This isn’t the first time that Kushner’s relationship with China has raised eyebrows since his father-in-law won the presidency. Last month it was reported that Kushner had been in talks with Anbang Insurance Group, a Chinese financial corporation worth $285 billion whose ownership structure is mysterious, about a real estate development deal that had been in the works for months.” [Salon, 2/7/17]
¶ Trump Relied On Kushner In Navigating U.S.-China Relations
New York Times: Kushner “Has Emerged As A Central Player” In Trump’s Relationship With China. According to the New York Times, “While Mr. Bannon and Mr. Navarro have been less vocal than some outsiders expected, Mr. Kushner has emerged as a central player. He helped orchestrate a fence-mending phone call between Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi last month, in which Mr. Trump pledged to abide by ‘one China,’ the four-decade-old policy under which the United States recognized a single Chinese government in Beijing and severed its diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Mr. Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, have curried favor with China’s ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai. Ms. Trump and her daughter, Arabella, attended a reception at the Chinese Embassy to celebrate Lunar New Year. Mr. Kushner is conferring with Mr. Cui about the upcoming visit. On Monday, at the National Security Council meeting, there was a vivid illustration of Mr. Kushner’s unusual role. He was seated at the table in the Situation Room when Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, walked in. Seeing no chairs open, General Dunford headed for the back benches, according to two witnesses. Mr. Kushner, they said, quickly offered his chair to General Dunford, and took a seat along the wall.” [New York Times, 3/14/17]
Trump Relied On Kushner For His Meeting With The Chinese Delegation. According to Politico, “President Donald Trump may be brimming with confidence going into his Mar-a-Lago summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, but some China watchers say he could easily be outmatched by a superbly well-prepped Beijing diplomatic team aiming to exploit gaping holes in the White House’s fledgling China policy group. Trump will be relying heavily on son-in-law and real-estate magnate Jared Kushner with some assistance from old China hand Henry Kissinger and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, an oil executive who is mostly unfamiliar with the customs and political protocols of a Chinese delegation that places a premium on them. But Trump hasn’t filled many key positions that could bolster him in the negotiations, including assistant secretaries of State and Defense for East Asia, according to former U.S. officials and other experts familiar with China policy.” [Politico, 4/6/17]
¶ Trump’s Tariffs On Chinese Goods Hurt American Farmers, The Steel Industry, And Coronavirus Response
2020: The CBO Projected Trump’s Tariffs Will Cost The Average American Household More Than $1000. According to the Congressional Budget Office, “In CBO’s estimation, the trade barriers put in place by the United States and its trading partners between January 2018 and January 2020 would reduce real GDP over the projection period. The effects of those barriers on trade flows, prices, and output are projected to peak during the first half of 2020 and then begin to subside. Tariffs are expected to reduce the level of real GDP by roughly 0.5 percent and raise consumer prices by 0.5 percent in 2020. As a result, tariffs are also projected to reduce average real household income by $1,277 (in 2019 dollars) in 2020.” [Congressional Budget Office, 33, 1/7/20]
¶ Billions Of Dollars In Scuttled Investment In The Steel Industry
JSW Was Forced To Scale Back Production And Cancel A Planned $500 Million Investment Because Of Trump’s Tariffs. According to Bloomberg, “Hritz was counting on help from President Trump, who three weeks earlier had announced his intention to impose tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum imported to the U.S. The Fox anchor wondered if the import levies might interfere with JSW’s Baytown plan, given that much of the raw steel processed at the mill was imported from India and Mexico. ‘Absolutely not,’ Hritz said. On the tariffs, JSW was ‘in lockstep with the president and with the administration.’ Not so much anymore. A big piece of the Baytown project has been postponed indefinitely, in part because of Trump’s tariffs. Both Baytown and a sister plant in Ohio, where JSW once planned to invest another $500 million, have been operating at unprofitably low production levels, also owing in part to the tariffs. JSW has sued the administration for refusing to exempt it from paying the levies on the massive slabs of steel the company imports and turns into pipe and other products for industrial use. ‘It’s the hypocritical nature of these tariffs that’s completely dumbfounding us,’ says Parth Jindal, director of JSW Steel USA and managing director of JSW Cement Ltd. in India. ‘It just doesn’t add up.’” [Bloomberg, 2/12/20]
¶ Trump’s Tariffs Hurt Farming
2019: Farm Bankruptcies Increased 20% To The Highest Level Since The Great Recession. According to CNN, “US farm bankruptcies were up 20% in 2019, despite the billions of dollars in aid President Donald Trump has paid to farmers hurt by the trade war with China. That's the highest level since 2011, following the Great Recession, according to court data analyzed by the American Farm Bureau. There were 595 Chapter 12 family farm bankruptcies, nearly 100 more than in 2018, the trade group said.” [CNN, 01/30/20]
¶ Tariffs On Medical Products Contributed To A Medical Device Shortage
2018 – 2020: Trump’s Tariffs On Chinese Medical Products Made Them More Expensive, Contributing To The Shortages And High Costs Of Equipment That Have Hindered Early Responses To The Virus. According to the Peterson Institute for International Economics, “An alarming unintended consequence of President Donald Trump’s misguided trade war with China has suddenly threatened to cripple the US fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The administration’s tariffs on Chinese medical products may contribute to shortages and higher costs of vital equipment at a time of nationwide health crisis. In the last two years, Trump’s policy has forced China to divert the sales of these products—including protective gear for doctors and nurses and high-tech equipment to monitor patients—from the United States to other markets, and now the US medical establishment faces looming trouble importing these necessities from other countries, which may be hoarding them to meet their own health crises.” [Peterson Institute, 3/13/20]
¶ Kushner’s Family Played Up Their Connection To Jared And Trump To Chinese Investors
Kushner’s Sister Nicole Meyer Played Up Her Relationship With “American Princeling” Jared Kushner To Chinese Investors. According to The Daily Beast, “But when Nicole Meyer, who is a sister of Donald J. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, played up her relationship with her brother—a flagrant wink-wink-nudge-nudge using the the cachet of the White House—she was tapping into China’s strange Trump love, and something more. The connections that Meyer was evoking in front of 100 potential investors and clients in Beijing’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel were obvious to the well-heeled men and women there. She is the sister of an American princeling, the sort of position that is bestowed on a limited few based on their family connections rather than actual achievements—and should they hand over some money to the Kushner family, successful entry to the U.S. would be guaranteed.” [Daily Beast, 5/12/17]
The Kushner Real Estate Empire Highlighted Jared Kushner While Advertising Ways To Exploit EB-5 Investor Visa Program In Beijing. According to the Daily Beast, “The Kushner real-estate empire is making a play to profit from those insecurities, in turn exploiting the EB-5 investor visa program. This particular immigration procedure is, bluntly, a means for rich folks to acquire American residency. While other means of settling in the U.S. might involve a mountain of paperwork, the only kind of paper required under EB-5, to all intents and purposes, is the greenback. All this is well known to Trump, who re-upped the EB-5 program a few days ago. Indeed, as Bloomberg reported last year, when Kushner Companies (then-CEO: Jared Kushner) were building Trump Bay Street in New Jersey, the firm they hired to attract investors circulated a video touting the EB-5 benefits to be had by buying there. […] With Jared Kushner’s name showing up in Beijing during a shameless sales pitch, drawing a direct line between his name and a problematic visa program that has been riddled with fraud, even bringing potentially corrupt money into America, the first family of America is now stained with another shade of embarrassment.” [Daily Beast, 5/12/17]
¶ Kushner Was Given A Wide Range Of Additional Responsibilities In The White House
¶ Kushner Was Given Wide Ranging Foreign Policy Influence, Sometimes In Place Of State Department Officials
Politico: “Already At The White House, Trump’s Son-In-Law, Jared Kushner, And His Chief Strategist, Steve Bannon, Are Believed To Have Tremendous Influence On Foreign Policy Decisions.” According to Politico, “Some State Department officials are even wondering if the lag in nominations is a purposeful way for the White House to sideline them on foreign policy. Already at the White House, Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his chief strategist, Steve Bannon, are believed to have tremendous influence on foreign policy decisions. And Trump is known to have largely ignored the State Department’s offers to brief him ahead of important phone calls with world leaders, some of which have gone awry.” [Politico, 2/22/17]
¶ NAFTA Negotiations
Kushner Reportedly Helped Convince Trump Not To Pull Out Of NAFTA. According to the Washington Post, “Canada and Mexico were blindsided Wednesday as news of Trump’s planned NAFTA withdrawal spread north and south of the border. Arturo Sarukhan, a former Mexican ambassador to the United States, described the news as a ‘my way or the highway ambush’ from the White House, especially coming amid what has been weeks of steady and amicable discussions among the three countries about revamping the trade agreement. But Mexico — which was already on edge following Trump’s brief flirtation with attaching border-wall funding to a must-pass, short-term spending bill — quickly leapt to action. Two cabinet-level officials in Mexico reached out to their U.S. counterparts to deliver a blunt message: If Trump officially announced the U.S. intention to withdraw from NAFTA, Mexico would not return to the negotiating table. Mexico would not, the officials warned, negotiate with ‘a gun to its head.’ The president, meanwhile, was hearing a similar message from some of his own senior advisers. Ross, the commerce secretary, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, scrambled to persuade Trump to back down.” [Washington Post, 1/27/17]
¶ Egypt
Kushner Met With Representatives From Egypt And Saudi Arabia. According to Politico Magazine, “In preparation for the visit, Kushner has spoken to Yousef Al Otaiba, the United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United States, as well as the king of Jordan, Abdullah II, and representatives from Saudi Arabia and Egypt. He has also spoken with the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, an aide so close to the prime minister that he’s been dubbed ‘Bibi’s brain.’ But Kushner has really hit it off with Arab diplomats. He is in almost constant phone and email contact with Otaiba, whom he met last June on the campaign through a mutual friend, the billionaire real estate investor Tom Barrack, one of Trump’s closest friends and the chair of his inaugural committee. Otaiba—a shrewd, well-connected player of Washington politics who has served in his role since 2008—recalled their first 90-minute meeting, at which Kushner peppered him with questions about the entire region.” [Politico Magazine, 2/11/17]
¶ Iraq And Anti-ISIS Strategy
Kushner Went To Iraq For Meetings On Anti-ISIS Strategy. According to the New York Times, “Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, landed in Iraq on Monday, military officials said, visiting the country as the American military is aiding Iraqi forces in their brutal fight to retake Mosul from the Islamic State. It was unclear what Mr. Kushner, who has been expanding his reach in his father-in-law’s administration, planned to gain from the trip. Mr. Kushner, 36, who serves as a senior adviser to Mr. Trump, was invited by Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Navy Capt. Greg Hicks, a spokesman for the chairman, said early Monday that the general had arrived in Iraq for meetings, including with coalition officials, accompanied by Mr. Kushner and Thomas P. Bossert, the president’s homeland security adviser. The general invited Mr. Kushner and Mr. Bossert to accompany him ‘to receive an update on the status of the counter-ISIS campaign in Iraq and Syria,’ Captain Hicks said.” [New York Times, 4/2/17]
- Kushner Was Invited To Meet Iraqi Leaders, U.S. Advisers, And American Troops. According to CNN, “Kushner has been invited to meet with Iraqi leaders, senior US advisers and visit with US forces in the field to receive an update on counter-ISIS operations, Hicks said. He is expected back in the United States early this week, a senior administration official told CNN.” [CNN, 4/2/17]
¶ Ireland
Kushner Attended Trump’s Meeting With Irish Officials. According to the Irish Times, “This was one ceremonial sit-down in the Oval Office which everyone wanted to see. It was scheduled before lunch on Capitol Hill and after breakfast (and the first Danny Boy of the day) at the vice-president’s residence. […] Irish advisers on one sofa. Mike Pence, the diminutive Wilbur Ross and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner on the American side. The Donald and Enda sitting on chairs under the oil painting of George Washington with the bust of Martin Luther-King in background.” [Irish Times, 3/16/17]
¶ Jordan
Kushner Met With The King of Jordan. According to Politico Magazine, “In preparation for the visit, Kushner has spoken to Yousef Al Otaiba, the United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United States, as well as the king of Jordan, Abdullah II, and representatives from Saudi Arabia and Egypt. He has also spoken with the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, an aide so close to the prime minister that he’s been dubbed ‘Bibi’s brain.’ But Kushner has really hit it off with Arab diplomats. He is in almost constant phone and email contact with Otaiba, whom he met last June on the campaign through a mutual friend, the billionaire real estate investor Tom Barrack, one of Trump’s closest friends and the chair of his inaugural committee. Otaiba—a shrewd, well-connected player of Washington politics who has served in his role since 2008—recalled their first 90-minute meeting, at which Kushner peppered him with questions about the entire region.” [Politico Magazine, 2/11/17]
¶ Mexico
Kushner Was Given The Responsibility To Negotiate With Mexico. According to the Associated Press, “One week into office, President Donald Trump was trying to clean up his first international incident. The president shifted a jam-packed schedule Friday to make room for an hourlong phone call with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who had abruptly snubbed the new president by canceling a visit. Trump's team had appeared to respond by threatening a hefty border tax on Mexican imports. By the end of the conversation, Trump had tasked his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner — a real estate executive with no national security experience — with managing the ongoing dispute, according to an administration official with knowledge of the call. […] Kushner, who already wields enormous power in the White House, is expected to work through the dispute with Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray. The two men, who know each other from the financial circles, also worked together to arrange Trump's surprise visit to Mexico during the presidential campaign.” [Associated Press, 1/28/17]
Kushner Acted As A “Shadow Diplomat” During U.S.-Mexico Talks.” According to the Washington Post, “The scene in the Oval Office was remarkable: the foreign minister of Mexico — the very country that Donald Trump had turned into a campaign-trail piñata — huddled with now-President Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The men were debating what Trump would say in a speech later that day as he ordered construction of a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border. The Mexican diplomat, Luis Videgaray, and Kushner, a White House senior adviser, had concluded that the remarks as drafted would upend the two countries’ fragile relationship, so together they urged Trump to soften his language about Mexico. The trio arrived at a compromise: Trump, understanding that Mexicans would hang on his every word, agreed to state that a strong Mexico was also in the best interests of the United States. In Mexico City that afternoon, Jan. 25, officials welcomed Trump’s remarks as the most encouraging statement he had given to date about Mexico — and they celebrated Kushner as a moderating influence.” [Washington Post, 2/9/17]
¶ Saudi Arabia
Kushner Met With Representatives From Egypt And Saudi Arabia. According to Politico Magazine, “In preparation for the visit, Kushner has spoken to Yousef Al Otaiba, the United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United States, as well as the king of Jordan, Abdullah II, and representatives from Saudi Arabia and Egypt. He has also spoken with the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, an aide so close to the prime minister that he’s been dubbed ‘Bibi’s brain.’ But Kushner has really hit it off with Arab diplomats. He is in almost constant phone and email contact with Otaiba, whom he met last June on the campaign through a mutual friend, the billionaire real estate investor Tom Barrack, one of Trump’s closest friends and the chair of his inaugural committee. Otaiba—a shrewd, well-connected player of Washington politics who has served in his role since 2008—recalled their first 90-minute meeting, at which Kushner peppered him with questions about the entire region.” [Politico Magazine, 2/11/17]
Kushner Attended Trump’s Meeting With Prince Mohammad. According to the New York Times, “Mr. Trump had been scheduled to spend much of his day on Tuesday with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. A snowstorm that blanketed much of the northeastern United States prompted Ms. Merkel to delay her visit until Friday, leaving Mr. Trump’s lunch hour available for Prince Mohammed. Joining the president for the meetings were Vice President Mike Pence; H. R. McMaster, the national security adviser; Stephen K. Bannon, the president’s chief strategist; Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff; and Mr. Kushner. Mr. Mattis is expected to meet with Prince Mohammed later this week.” [New York Times, 3/14/17]
Kushner And Bannon Attended Trump’s Meeting With Saudi Leaders While No Representatives From State Or Defense Were Present. According to Politico, “Bannon and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner both attended the president’s recent meeting with Saudi leaders; astonishingly, nobody from Defense or State was on the guest list. Mattis told Congress that climate change is a vital national security threat, but Trump’s budget gutted funding for climate programs—and his budget director, Mick Mulvaney, publicly declared that the administration considers all of it a waste of money.” [Politico, 3/20/17]
¶ Libya
Kushner Reportedly Helped Override Nikki Haley’s Support For Salam Fayyad’s Appointment As U.N. Representative In Libya. According to Politico Magazine, “This hard fact was underlined by the one great blunders of Haley’s tenure to date: The Salam Fayyad affair. In early February, Secretary-General Guterres announced that he planned to appoint Fayyad, a former Palestinian prime minister, as the organization’s representative in Libya. By most accounts, Haley assented to this selection, only to release a last-minute statement late on a Friday claiming it was an example of anti-Israeli bias. Diplomats and U.N. officials presume that someone in the White House, most probably the president’s son-in-law and Middle East point-man Jared Kushner, had forced the reversal. Kushner seems deeply opposed to the U.N. having any substantive role in Israeli affairs, especially after December’s Israeli settlement vote. It seems possible that the administration will mount an all-out push to delegitimize the U.N.’s already pretty discredited status as Middle East peacemaker. The next step of this campaign could be a decision to boycott the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, long reviled by the American right as a hotbed of anti-Israeli sentiment. The Bush administration did something similar 10 years ago, but if the U.S. pulls out now, it will launch a cycle of diplomatic disruption: Non-Western countries, and many U.S. allies, will just double down on criticisms of Israel in both Geneva and New York.” [Politico Magazine, 2/28/17]
¶ UAE
Kushner Met With The UAE’s Ambassador. According to Politico Magazine, “In preparation for the visit, Kushner has spoken to Yousef Al Otaiba, the United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United States, as well as the king of Jordan, Abdullah II, and representatives from Saudi Arabia and Egypt. He has also spoken with the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, an aide so close to the prime minister that he’s been dubbed ‘Bibi’s brain.’ But Kushner has really hit it off with Arab diplomats. He is in almost constant phone and email contact with Otaiba, whom he met last June on the campaign through a mutual friend, the billionaire real estate investor Tom Barrack, one of Trump’s closest friends and the chair of his inaugural committee. Otaiba—a shrewd, well-connected player of Washington politics who has served in his role since 2008—recalled their first 90-minute meeting, at which Kushner peppered him with questions about the entire region.” [Politico Magazine, 2/11/17]
United Arab Emirates Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba Was Kushner’s Middle East Advisor. According to the Huffington Post, “In January, Trump officially asked his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to become a top adviser on Middle East policy. Weeks later, press reports revealed that Kushner had chosen his own adviser: one of the best-connected Middle Eastern diplomats in Washington, UAE ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba. Kushner is in ‘almost constant’ contact with Otaiba, Politico reported. He is ‘playing the student,’ The New York Times suggested. Otaiba’s boss, UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, was one of the first Muslim leaders Trump contacted after taking office. The two spoke the day Trump issued his ban on entry to the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority countries. A subsequent UAE statement on the policy recognized Trump’s right to impose it and offered little sympathy to the affected nations: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.” [Huffington Post, 3/6/17]
¶ Yemen
Daily News: The SEAL Raid In Yemen Was Done With “Bannon And Kushner’s Blessing.” According to the Daily News, “The pretenders may well have cost the life of an American Navy SEAL. Over dinner, less than a week into taking office, Trump hastily approved a military raid in Yemen to gather intelligence on an Al Qaeda collaborator. The raid was risky and the Obama administration had postponed the operation. But with Bannon and Kushner's blessing — the two men of course attended the dinner with military advisers — the soldiers were sent into combat. There is risk inherent in any such operation, and we'll never know exactly what to attribute to poor planning. But we do know that Trump's team made a series of bad judgments.” [Daily News, 2/5/17]
Kushner Was Part Of The Decision To Authorize The SEAL Team Raid In Yemen. According to the New York Times, “Just five days after taking office, over dinner with his newly installed secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, President Trump was presented with the first of what will be many life-or-death decisions: whether to approve a commando raid that risked the lives of American Special Operations forces and foreign civilians alike. President Barack Obama’s national security aides had reviewed the plans for a risky attack on a small, heavily guarded brick home of a senior Qaeda collaborator in a mountainous village in a remote part of central Yemen. But Mr. Obama did not act because the Pentagon wanted to launch the attack on a moonless night and the next one would come after his term had ended. With two of his closest advisers, Jared Kushner and Stephen K. Bannon, joining the dinner at the White House along with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., Mr. Trump approved sending in the Navy’s SEAL Team 6, hoping the raid early last Sunday would scoop up cellphones and laptop computers that could yield valuable clues about one of the world’s most dangerous terrorist groups. Vice President Mike Pence and Michael T. Flynn, the national security adviser, also attended the dinner.” [New York Times, 2/1/17]
¶ Qatar
A Qatari-Linked Company Helped Bail Out Kushner’s 666 Fifth Avenue Tower During The Trump Administration. According to the New York Times, “Top Emirati officials have a close relationship with Mr. Kushner, forged during the Trump administration. And the Kushner family has previously benefited from Qatari funds. A Qatar-linked company helped bail out the Kushners’ debt-ridden tower in midtown Manhattan, 666 Fifth Avenue, during the Trump presidency.” [New York Times, 3/30/23]
Kushner Helped Broker The End Of A Saudi Arabian-Led Blockade Of Qatar That Lasted Most Of The Trump Administration. According to the New York Times, “As a top White House adviser to Mr. Trump while he was in office, Mr. Kushner was an active participant in American diplomacy in the Middle East and helped orchestrate a regional pact, the Abraham Accords, that normalized relations between Israel and several Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates, in 2020. During the final days of the Trump presidency, he played a role in discussions that helped lift an economic and diplomatic blockade of Qatar by its neighbors. The blockade, led by Saudi Arabia, had been imposed in 2017 at a time when Mr. Kushner was cultivating a relationship with Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman — who was about to become next in line to the throne in the kingdom.” [New York Times, 3/30/23]
¶ Kushner Acted As Point Man On Climate Change Policy
Kushner Was Scheduled To Meet With A Group Of Republicans Supporting A Carbon Tax. According to the Associated Press, “A group of Republican senior statesmen is pushing for a carbon tax to combat the effects of climate change and hoping to sell the plan to the White House. Former Secretary of State James A. Baker is leading the effort, which also includes former Secretary of State George Shultz. In an opinion piece published Tuesday night in the Wall Street Journal, they argued that ‘there is mounting evidence of problems with the atmosphere that are growing too compelling to ignore.’ […] The group will meet Wednesday with White House officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, senior advisor Jared Kushner and Gary Cohn, director of the National Economic Council. Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and Kushner’s wife, is also expected to attend, according to a person familiar with the plans who was not authorized to discuss the meeting publicly.” [Associated Press, 2/7/17]
Wall Street Journal: Kushner Allegedly “Intervened” To Remove “Language Critical” Of The Paris Accords From An Executive Order On Climate Change. According to the Wall Street Journal, “At the request of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his wife, Ivanka Trump, language critical of a global climate deal was struck from an executive order that Mr. Trump is planning to sign soon, according to multiple people familiar with the move. Mr. Trump is expected to sign within days at least two executive orders that will begin the process of trying to dismantle former President Barack Obama’s climate and environmental regulations. Mr. Kushner, a senior adviser to Mr. Trump, and Ms. Trump, the president’s eldest daughter, intervened to strike language about the climate deal from an earlier draft of the executive order, according to these people. The executive order, which targets Mr. Obama’s broad climate agenda, now includes no mention of the climate deal, which nearly 200 nations struck in Paris in 2015, in large part due to a strong push by the Mr. Obama’s administration.” [Wall Street Journal, 2/23/17]
¶ Defense Talking Points Had To Be Approved By Kushner
White House Officials Claimed NSC Talking Points And Statements Had To Be Approved By Kushner. According to the Free Beacon, “Sources who spoke to the Free Beacon described wide-ranging frustration at the NSC over Kushner’s influence over some of the most important foreign policy portfolios, such as Iraq, Israel, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and China, among others. Senior NSC staff are finding their hands tied when it comes to performing even perfunctory duties, such as talking points and statements on high profile issues that must go through Kushner for approval. Sources who spoke to the Free Beacon described this level of involvement as kneecapping the NSC and contributing to its difficulties formulating policy. ‘Kushner is meddling in a lot of things,’ according to one NSC official who spoke to the Free Beacon only on background. ‘Such direct control of foreign policy from the West Wing has never happened before. It just creates a lot of drama. People just don’t know how to deal with it. We’re respectful of his position, but it’s confusing the policymaking process.’” [Free Beacon, 4/12/17]
¶ Kushner Was Tapped To Lead Government Reform Department Called The “Office Of American Innovation”
Kushner Was Appointed To Lead The White House Office Of American Innovation. According to the Washington Post, “President Trump plans to unveil a new White House office on Monday with sweeping authority to overhaul the federal bureaucracy and fulfill key campaign promises — such as reforming care for veterans and fighting opioid addiction — by harvesting ideas from the business world and, potentially, privatizing some government functions. The White House Office of American Innovation, to be led by Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, will operate as its own nimble power center within the West Wing and will report directly to Trump. Viewed internally as a SWAT team of strategic consultants, the office will be staffed by former business executives and is designed to infuse fresh thinking into Washington, float above the daily political grind and create a lasting legacy for a president still searching for signature achievements.” [Washington Post, 3/26/17]
Washington Post: Kushner’s “SWAT” Team Was Created To “Overhaul The Federal Bureaucracy.” According to the Washington Post, “President Trump plans to unveil a new White House office on Monday with sweeping authority to overhaul the federal bureaucracy and fulfill key campaign promises — such as reforming care for veterans and fighting opioid addiction — by harvesting ideas from the business world and, potentially, privatizing some government functions. The White House Office of American Innovation, to be led by Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, will operate as its own nimble power center within the West Wing and will report directly to Trump. Viewed internally as a SWAT team of strategic consultants, the office will be staffed by former business executives and is designed to infuse fresh thinking into Washington, float above the daily political grind and create a lasting legacy for a president still searching for signature achievements.” [Washington Post, 3/26/17]
CNN: Kushner Was “At The Helm Of A Small Group That Wants To Do Nothing Less Than Overhaul Washington’s Calcified Bureaucracy.” According to CNN, “If Trump sees a forceful intellect in Bannon, the senior adviser also has a forceful ally: Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner. Kushner, who is 36 and married to Ivanka Trump, has no government experience, but became close to Bannon during the campaign. ‘Jared realizes that Bannon has the floor on explaining the administration’s revolution,’ says one knowledgeable source. ‘And he may be able to help by taking some of the edges off.’ But Kushner’s portfolio is much larger than that: He’s at the helm of a small group that wants to do nothing less than overhaul Washington’s calcified bureaucracy. And Trump himself has said he wants his son-in-law to be at the center of negotiating Mideast peace, and Kushner hasn’t been shy at getting that message out. ‘The fact that he tells everybody ‘I’m the guy’ shows bad judgment,’ says a former high-ranking Obama administration official. But he’s the President’s son-in-law, and becomes a first among equals, another tricky personnel matter.” [CNN, 2/6/17]
¶ Kushner Worked With Trump And Manufacturing CEOs To Spearhead Initiative
Politico: Kushner “Spearheaded” Working Groups For CEOs Meeting With Trump. According to Politico, “President Donald Trump met with executives of leading American companies once again Thursday morning, gathering 24 CEOs of prominent manufacturing companies as part of a round of meetings he’s been holding with business aimed at boosting the economy. But before the group sat down with Trump, they huddled in working groups on the second floor of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building as part of an initiative spearheaded by senior adviser Jared Kushner.” [Politico, 2/23/17]
¶ Kushner Worked On U.S. Cybersecurity And IT Modernization
Kushner Was Scheduled To Help Lead Trump’s Cybersecurity Initiative. According to NBC News, “President Trump was expected to sign an executive order Tuesday outlining his approach to protecting federal agencies from hackers. The White House said Tuesday afternoon that the signing had been postponed, but did not give a reason. Trump met earlier in the day with cybersecurity experts at the White House, during which they discussed the president's goals. […] To his immediate right sat his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who Trump said would be leading the initiative, along with former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and homeland security adviser Tom Bossert. Trump's national security adviser, Michael Flynn, sat on the other side of Kushner.” [NBC News, 1/31/17]
Kushner Was Reportedly Working On An Executive Order To Modernize Federal Networks And Electronic Infrastructure. According to Politico, “At the end of this week, President Donald Trump is likely to sign an executive order kicking off several cybersecurity initiatives, according to multiple people familiar with the plans. But as Cory and Eric wrote for Pros over the weekend, a major piece of the Trump administration’s cyber agenda — IT modernization — won’t be in the executive order. Instead, two sources said, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner will helm a separate executive order on modernizing federal networks and computer infrastructure.” [Politico, 4/24/17]
Kushner Reportedly Asked For His Portfolio To Include IT Modernization. According to Politico, “Kushner, the president’s influential son-in-law, wanted IT modernization in his portfolio, several people said. He listed the issue as a priority for his new Office of American Innovation when the group launched in late March. At the time, an administration official told MC that there would be ‘overlap’ between Kushner’s so-called ‘SWAT team’ and the work of the National Security Council, where most cyber policy is formulated.” [Politico, 4/24/17]
¶ Kushner Was On The American Technology Council
Kusher Served On A “High Level Task Force” On Upgrading Technology Used By The Federal Government. According to Politico, “The White House is convening a high-level task force, headed by President Donald Trump himself, to coordinate an upgrade of how the federal government uses technology. ‘It is the policy of the United States to promote the secure, efficient and economical use of information technology to achieve its missions,’ reads an executive order published Monday. ‘Americans deserve better digital services from their government. To effectuate this policy, the federal government must transform and modernize its information technology and how it uses and delivers digital services.’ In addition to the president, the group's membership pulls from the highest levels of the federal government. It includes the vice president; the secretaries of Defense, Commerce and Homeland Security; the director of national intelligence; and senior presidential adviser Jared Kushner.” [Politico, 5/1/17]
¶ Kushner Advised Trump On Tax Reform
Kushner Was Part of A Group Advising Trump On Tax Reform. According to Politico, “Trump will huddle on tax reform today with Gary Cohn, the director of the National Economic Council; Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin; his chief strategist Steve Bannon; son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner; Shahira Knight from the National Economic Council; and Craig Phillips and Justin Muzinich, both from Treasury.” [Politico, 3/30/17]
¶ Crime And Public Safety
¶ Kushner Was Dispatched To Work On A Criminal Justice Reform Package
Buzzfeed: Kushner Was Sent By The White House To Discuss Criminal Justice Reform With Key Senators. According to Buzzfeed, “Jared Kushner, son-in-law and senior adviser to President Donald Trump, has been dispatched by the White House to discuss criminal justice reform issues with key senators, BuzzFeed News has learned. Kushner met with Sens. Chuck Grassley and Dick Durbin on Capitol Hill Thursday. Kushner was spotted entering Grassley’s office on Thursday morning. An aide familiar with the meeting confirmed that Kushner is speaking with the senators about the reform legislation, which stalled last Congress despite early optimism that it could pass. Grassley, chair of the Judiciary committee, and Durbin, the Democratic whip, have said they plan to eventually revive the issue with a similar bill this Congress. Sen. Mike Lee, another vocal advocate for criminal justice reform, entered Grassley’s office a few minutes after Kushner. The White House did not immediately return a request for comment.” [Buzzfeed, 3/30/17]
Kushner Met With Senators Grassley, Durbin, And Lee About Criminal Justice Reform. According to The Hill, “President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner raised eyebrows late last month when he took a meeting with Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Mike Lee (R- Utah), the lead sponsors on the criminal justice reform bill that stalled in the last session of Congress. While Sessions has never been a fan of efforts to reduce mandatory minimums, Chettiar called the meeting encouraging. ‘Kushner is supportive of criminal justice reform. … I think it’s possible there’s a strong advocate there,’ she said.” [The Hill, 4/16/17]
¶ Kushner Played A Role On Trump Admin’s Drug Policy
Rep. Cohen Claimed Kushner Would Determine The Trump Administration’s Marijuana Policy. According to Roll Call, “Rep. Steve Cohen says it is likely that President Donald Trump’s son-in-law will determine the president’s policy on marijuana. ‘It comes down to WWJD — What would Jared do?’ the Tennessee Democrat told The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal. While Kushner’s public position on marijuana is unclear, the newspaper reported, Cohen said he couldn’t imagine that Kushner and his wife Ivanka Trump, both seen as moderating influences on the president, would encourage the commander in chief to come down hard on marijuana offenders. ‘How can you be 36 years old and grow up in New York City and be for having people jailed for marijuana,’ the six-term congressman said.” [Roll Call, 4/10/17]
Kushner Worked With Chris Christie On Drug Policy. According to the Washington Post, “The office will also focus on combating opioid abuse, a regular emphasis for Trump on the campaign trail. The president later this week plans to announce an official drug commission devoted to the problem that will be chaired by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R). He has been working informally on the issue for several weeks with Kushner, despite reported tension between the two.” [Washington Post, 3/26/17]
¶ Kushner Was Involved In Handling Presidential Pardons, Leading To A Pardon For His Father And Friends
Kushner Played A “Key Role” In Managing The Pardon “Free-For-All” At The White House. According to Yahoo News, “President Trump’s son-in-law and top adviser, Jared Kushner, has played a key role in managing the avalanche of clemency requests that have come into the White House as the administration nears its end next month, according to multiple sources. With the holiday approaching, Trump has issued 65 pardons and commutations since Tuesday, including many that erased convictions and sentences for his allies, and more are expected in the coming days. ‘Everyone’s sending emails to Jared,’ a source familiar with the process said. ‘If you want to make something happen, go to Jared.’ The source, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the ongoing process, spoke with Yahoo News on Monday, before Trump issued the spate of pardons and commutations. They predicted the coming onslaught of pardons. ‘It’s going to be a free-for-all,’ the source said.” [Yahoo News, 12/24/20]
¶ A Drug Smuggler Utilized Connections To Kushner’s Father To Secure A Presidential Pardon
January 2021: Jonathan Braun, Who Was Convicted Of Drug Smuggling, Received A Presidential Pardon Despite Ongoing Prosecution On Other Charges. According to the New York Times, “Jonathan Braun of New York had served just two and a half years of a decade-long sentence for running a massive marijuana ring, when Mr. Trump, at 12:51 a.m. on his last day in office, announced he would be freed. Mr. Braun was, to say the least, an unusual candidate for clemency. A Staten Islander with a history of violent threats, Mr. Braun had told a rabbi who owed him money: ‘I am going to make you bleed.’ Mr. Braun’s family had told confidants they were willing to spend millions of dollars to get him out of prison. At the time, Mr. Trump’s own Justice Department and federal regulators, as well as New York state authorities, were still after him for his role in an entirely separate matter: his work as a predatory lender, making what judges later found were fraudulent and usurious loans to cash-strapped small businesses.” [New York Times, 11/16/23]
Braun’s Family Utilized Longstanding Ties To Kushner’s Father To Push For Clemency. According to the New York Times, “In working to secure his release, Mr. Braun’s family used a connection to Charles Kushner, the father of Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and senior White House adviser, to try to get the matter before Mr. Trump. Jared Kushner’s White House office drafted the language used in the news release to announce commutations for Mr. Braun and others.” [New York Times, 11/26/23]
February 2024: Braun Was Fined $20 Million For Predatory Loan Business, Judge Described Braun As Showing “Little Remorse.” According to the New York Times, “Months earlier, the Federal Trade Commission and the New York State attorney general had filed suits against Mr. Braun saying he swindled and intimidated borrowers who had taken money from a network of predatory lenders he ran, charging usurious interest rates and making violent threats. On Tuesday, a federal judge in New York imposed $20 million in fines on Mr. Braun after finding him liable for the accusations made by the trade commission. Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the Federal District Court in Manhattan excoriated Mr. Braun in the ruling, depicting him as a hardened, craven man who ‘gleefully, with little remorse,’ boasted about his illegal conduct and treated it as a ‘laughing matter’ as he threatened the business owners he gouged.” [New York Times, 2/6/24]
¶ Kushner’s Close Friend Ken Kurson Received A Presidential Pardon For Cyberstalking And Harassment, Pled Guilty To Similar Charges Months Later
Kurson Was The Editor For Kushner-Owned Newspaper And A Close Friend Of Kushner. According to CNBC, “Ken Kurson, a former New York newspaper editor and close friend of Trump White House senior advisor Jared Kushner, pleaded guilty to reduced misdemeanor charges Wednesday in a case where he was accused of cyberstalking his ex-wife.” [CNBC, 2/26/22]
Kurson Was Pardoned By Trump Over Federal Cyberstalking Charges. According to Bloomberg, “Former New York Observer editor-in-chief Ken Kurson, who was pardoned by former President Donald Trump over federal cyberstalking allegations, pleaded guilty to state charges stemming from the same conduct.” [Bloomberg, 2/16/22]
Kurson Pleaded Guilty To State Charges For Installing Spyware On Ex-Wife’s Computer. According to ABC News, “Ken Kurson, the former editor of the New York Observer who was pardoned by then-President Donald Trump before he left office, pleaded guilty Wednesday to two state-level misdemeanors for allegedly spying on his former wife's computer. Kurson, a friend of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner who also helped manage Rudy Giuliani's unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2008, was arrested in 2020 on federal charges that alleged a ‘pattern of stalking and harassment against three victims,’ including one he blamed for the dissolution of his marriage, according to prosecutors. He was pardoned by Trump in January 2021 but re-arrested on state charges in August. On Wednesday he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors -- including attempted computer trespass -- that accused him of surreptitiously installing spyware on his ex-wife's computer from his work computer at the Observer in 2015.” [ABC News, 2/16/22]
¶ Kushner’s Father Received A Presidential Pardon, Then Donated $1 Million To Trump Super PAC
Charles Kusher Pleaded Guilty To 18 Counts Including Tax Evasion Following Blackmail Scheme. According to the Associated Press, “After Charles Kushner discovered his brother-in-law was cooperating with federal authorities, the wealthy real estate executive and father of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared, hatched a scheme for revenge and intimidation. Kushner hired a prostitute to lure his brother-in-law, then arranged to have the encounter in a New Jersey motel room recorded with a hidden camera and the recording sent to his own sister, the man’s wife. The scheme didn’t work. Kushner later pleaded guilty to tax evasion and making illegal campaign donations in a case tailor-made for tabloid headlines.” [12/24/20]
Charles Kushner Donated $1 Million To Trump Super PAC. According to Business Insider, “Charles Kushner, the father of Donald Trump's son-in-law and the recipient of one of the former president's final pardons, donated $1 million to Trump's leading super PAC. [...] Charles Kushner's donation was one of the largest to the pro-Trump ‘Make America Great Again Inc’ super PAC has received from an individual contributor through the end of June. The donation was likely welcomed in Trump's orbit as the former president and his allies burned through cash — much of it devoted to the former president and his aides' legal fees.” [Business Insider, 8/1/23]
¶ Kushner Worked On Health Care Reform
Kushner Was Involved In Discussions With Paul Ryan About Health Care Policy. According to Politico Magazine, “Kushner, so far, seems very much the opposite—a big-picture guy who avoids getting bogged down in the weeds. And he’s taken the same approach in other areas of his expansive, virtually unlimited portfolio within Trump’s world. In a meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan’s office about health care, for instance, Kushner was not concerned with granular policy details, according to an attendee. Instead, seated at a table alongside Vice President Mike Pence and White House advisers Gary Cohn and Rick Dearborn, Kushner’s main concern was the president’s overall bottom line: How can we say it’s a better plan? How are we going to say we lowered costs?” [Politico Magazine, 2/11/17]
Kushner Arranged A Meeting Between Trump And Zeke Emanuel To Discuss Health Care. According to Politico, “That dynamic was apparent during the debate over the failed health care bill, the Trump administration’s first major public policy fight. Kushner privately expressed displeasure with the GOP replacement bill to the president repeatedly and in no uncertain terms, three people familiar with the discussions told POLITICO. He voiced his displeasure so often that Trump at one point grew exasperated, telling his son-in-law that he fully understood his position, according to the two senior administration officials. Kushner played a key role in arranging for health expert Zeke Emanuel, an architect of Obamacare, to meet at the White House three times with senior staff and at least once with the president himself to discuss healthcare, according to three people familiar with the visits. Two of the people said the meetings drew eye rolls from conservative Trump staffers, who viewed Emanuel — brother of former Obama chief-of-staff Rahm Emanuel — as the opposition. (The third Emanuel brother, talent agent Ari, represented Trump during his ‘Apprentice’ days.)” [Politico, 4/1/17]
¶ Kushner Was Trump’s Muslim Community Liaison
Kushner Met With Muslim Activists And Businessmen During The Transition. According to Buzzfeed, “On a January day just before inauguration, a handful of Muslim activists and businessmen gathered in New York for a confidential meeting with Jared Kushner, the son-in-law and close adviser of President Donald Trump. Though the transition team was based in Trump Tower, this meeting took place off site, away from the cameras. The goal was a candid talk about what kind of relationship the new administration might forge with American Muslims — a minefield of a topic given Trump’s anti-Muslim remarks during the campaign. The meeting, which has not been previously reported, went smoothly, but any optimism Muslims left with that day vanished within a couple of weeks as Trump took office and immediately set about turning his anti-Muslim rhetoric into policy. And so fizzled one of the few attempts at dialogue between Muslim representatives and Trump’s inner circle. Neither side has ever spoken publicly about the talks. This account comes from interviews with six people who have direct knowledge of the meeting and who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivities involved.” [Buzzfeed, 3/4/17]
¶ Ivanka Trump Was An Embarrassment Abroad
¶ Video Released By French President Showed Ivanka Trump Awkwardly Trying TO Insert Herself Among WOrld Leaders
Video From The French President Showed Ivanka Trump Trying To Insert Herself Into A Conversation With Macron, May, Trudeau, And Lagarde. According to Parham Ghobadi via Twitter, “Ivanka Trump appears to be trying to get involved in a talk among Macron, May, Trudeau and Lagarde (IMF head). The video is released by French Presidential palace.” [Twitter - @BBCParham, 6/29/19]
¶ Ivanka And Trump Were Criticized For The Video And The Blatant Nepotism On Display
Ivanka Was Criticized Online With Many Wondering Why She Was There. According to Buzzfeed, “Trump was immediately criticized, with people asking why she was there and what she was doing jumping into the conversation.” [Buzzfeed, 6/29/19]
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “Being Someone’s Daughter Actually Isn’t A Career Qualification.” According to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez via Twitter, “It may be shocking to some, but being someone’s daughter actually isn’t a career qualification. It hurts our diplomatic standing when the President phones it in & the world moves on. The US needs our President working the G20. Bringing a qualified diplomat couldn’t hurt either.” [Twitter - @AOC, 6/29/19]
¶ White House Official Promoted Ivanka Trump’s Fashion Line In Possible Ethics Violation
¶ The White House Promoted Ivanka Trump’s Fashion Line In A POssible Ethics Violation
Kellyanne Conway Gave Ivanka Trump’s Fashion Line A “Free Commercial” During Interview From The White House Briefing Room. According to NBC News, “The Trump administration faced continued criticism over possible ethics violations Thursday after a White House official promoted Ivanka Trump's clothing line in a television interview. ‘Go buy Ivanka's stuff,’ Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Trump, told Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy. Ivanka Trump has a ‘wonderful line,’ Conway added. ‘I own some of it. I fully, I'm gonna just going to give a free commercial here. Go buy it today everybody. You can find it online.’” [NBC News, 2/9/17]
The U.S. Office of Government Ethics Had “Strong Reason” To Believe Conway’s Statement Violated Ethics Rules. According to NBC News, “The U.S. Office of Government Ethics, a separate and independent executive branch agency, warned the White House that it had ‘strong reason’ to believe that Conway violated ethics rules when she appeared Feb. 9 on Fox News' ‘Fox & Friends’ and made an extensive pitch for Ivanka Trump's clothing line.” [NBC News, 3/2/17]
¶ Eric Trump Said Nepotism Was A “Beautiful Thing”
¶ Eric Trump Called Nepotism A “Beautiful Thing”
Eric Trump Claimed Nepotism Was A “Beautiful Thing.” According to Telegraph, “Eric Trump may not be part of his father’s White House team like his sister Ivanka, but he has to ensure that the man whom he describes as having ‘the weight of the world’ on his shoulders does not have to worry about the fate of the family business over the next eight years. The 33-year-old son of the US President goes as far as describing nepotism as a ‘beautiful thing’ as he sits in the clubhouse of the Trump Turnberry golf resort in Ayrshire, where he has overseen a renovation costed at £200 million by the company.” [Telegraph, 4/10/17]
Eric Trump On Running His Father’s Business: “Is That Nepotism? Absolutely. Is That Also A Beautiful Thing? Absolutely. Family Business Is A Beautiful Thing. The Same Applies For Ivanka. Ivanka Is By His Side In Washington.” According to the Telegraph, “The younger Mr Trump recently faced a barrage of criticism for arguing that nepotism was a ‘factor of life’ but, instead of retracting this assessment, he goes further by arguing it was completely logical for his father to appoint him to look after the family’s business interests. ‘You trust the people who are closest to you. Who is he going to trust most to run a company? He is going to trust somebody who he trusts implicitly,’ he says. ‘He knows I care about the family. He knows I care about the brand. He knows I deeply care about the properties, our amazing teams. And he knows I’m going to do everything I can humanly possible to take care of that. ‘Is that nepotism? Absolutely. Is that also a beautiful thing? Absolutely. Family business is a beautiful thing. The same applies for Ivanka. Ivanka is by his side in Washington.’” [Telegraph, 4/10/17]
Eric Trump Said He Would Report Company Profitability To His Father, Claiming Such Action Would Not Represent A Conflict Of Interest Because It Was “A Pure Number, One Number On A Piece Of Paper.” According to the Associated Press, “‘We don’t talk about the business. At most it’s ‘How’s Turnberry? Turnberry’s great,’’ Eric Trump said, referring to a Trump golf property in Scotland. He would tell his father, if asked, ‘A profit or loss in a quarter, that’s it.’ ‘That doesn’t talk about any business sectors, that doesn’t talk about any assets, that doesn’t talk about anything specific in the business. That is a pure number, one number on a piece of paper,’ Eric Trump said. ‘That’s more than permissible. None of these laws even apply to him - he’s the president - but that is more than permissible in a trust structure.’ Experts disagree, noting that it is not a true trust structure because Trump retained ownership of the company.” [Associated Press, 4/24/17]
¶ Trump And The RNC Helped Boost Donald Trump Jr.’s Book And Publishing Company
¶ Trump And The RNC Helped Sell Donald Trump Jr.’s Book “Triggered,” Making It A New York Times Bestseller
Trump Tweeted About “Triggered” Four Times In November 2019, While In Office. [Twitter, accessed 1/30/20]
The RNC Spent Nearly $100,000 On Bulk Orders Of “Triggered.” According to the Washington Post, “Sales also reportedly got a boost from the Republican National Committee, which confirmed to the New York Times that it spent $94,800 last month on copies for a donor promotion. The purchase, disclosed in a recent Federal Election Commission filing, could explain the caveat that accompanied the bestseller listing for ‘Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us’ — and prompted speculation about what propelled Trump Jr.’s book to the coveted spot. A small dagger next to the book’s blurb in the ranking indicates ‘institutional, special interest, group or bulk purchases,’ which the Times says are factored into rankings at editors’ discretion.” [Washington Post, 11/22/19]
¶ A Publishing House Co-Founded by Trump Jr. Published Trump’s Book Which Was Bought In Bulk By Trump’s Pacs
Trump Jr. Was A Co-Founder Of Winning Team Publishing. According to USA Today, “Winning Team Publishing is a conservative publishing house founded in 2021 by Gor and Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr.” [USA Today, 3/9/23]
Winning Team Publishing Published Trump’s Book “Our Journey Together.” According to Forbes, “In a financial disclosure filed last week, Trump reported $5.75 million in royalties in connection with a publishing agreement for ‘A MAGA Journey.’ That title was the initial name for ‘Our Journey Together,’ which showcases photos by Trump’s official White House photographer and were already in the public domain and available for anyone to use. The former president added his own captions. A spokesperson for his publisher, a company cofounded by Donald Trump Jr. and a former campaign staffer named Sergio Gor, said ‘Our Journey Together’ sold more than 500,000 copies. The representative refused to provide documentation to back up that figure, which Forbes was unable to independently verify.” [Forbes, 7/23/23]
Trump’s Joint Fundraising Committee And Political Action Committee Collectively Paid The Publisher $231,000. According to Forbes, “Trump’s political operation did its part to boost sales. In 2022, the former president’s joint fundraising committee and political action committee paid Winning Team Publishing, which released the book, $231,000. Spokespeople for the committees did not respond to recent inquiries. In December 2022, though, a spokesperson confirmed that at least $48,000 of the joint-fundraising committee’s disbursements were for ‘Our Journey Together.’ That committee is still offering copies in exchange for donations of $75 or more.” [Forbes, 7/23/23]
¶ Melania Trump Received $250,000 In Licensing Fees For Promoting “Our Journey Together”
The Publisher Paid Melania Trump $250,000 In Licensing Fees. According to Forbes, “Trump also disclosed that Winning Team Publishing paid his wife, Melania, $250,000 in licensing fees. The spokesperson said that payment was for promoting ‘Our Journey Together.’” [Forbes, 7/23/23]
¶ Trump’s Friends And Golf Club Members Were Given Positions In Administration
¶ Andrew Giuliani – Office Of Public Liaison
Andrew Giuliani Earned $90,700 A Year As Associate Director In The Office Of Public Liaison Since March 2017. According to the Atlantic, “The younger Giuliani has served in the Office of Public Liaison, beginning as an associate director, since March 2017, making him one of the longest-serving members of the Trump administration. According to White House personnel records from 2018, he earns a salary of $90,700.” [Atlantic, 11/18/20]
Giuliani’s Job Duty As Public Liaison Officer Was To Coordinate Visits From Sports Teams And Attending Meetings About The Opioid Crisis. According to the Atlantic, “The public-liaison office deals with outreach to outside coalitions, and several of the current and former administration officials I spoke to for this story said Giuliani helps arrange sports teams’ visits to the White House. (Sergio Gor, who is deputy chief of staff for Senator Rand Paul and close to Giuliani, called him a ‘liaison to the sports community.’) But sports-team visits are more special-occasion than scheduling staple in the business of government, especially in this White House, where many title-winning teams decline invitations to visit or are simply not invited at all. (Trump has, however, given a large number of awards, such as the Medal of Freedom, to sports figures.) Steve Munisteri, who was principal director of the public-liaison office and Giuliani’s supervisor from February 2017 to February 2019, told me that Giuliani fills out his time by serving as the office’s representative at White House meetings about the opioid crisis.” [Atlantic, 11/18/20]
Some Staffers Suggested Giuliani Didn’t Really Do Anything And His Role Was “A Nepotism Job.” According to the Atlantic, “Others who have worked with Giuliani offered a different take on his White House tenure. ‘He doesn’t really try to be involved in anything,’ one former senior White House official told me, speaking on the condition of anonymity in order to be candid. ‘He’s just having a nice time.’ Yet for the differing opinions on the nature of Giuliani’s role, the officials I spoke to were certain that Giuliani had nabbed a White House post in the first place because of his father. A second former senior White House official plainly called it ‘a nepotism job.’ But Munisteri said that anyone who frames it this way ‘has an ax to grind.’ He added that Giuliani, a former professional golfer, was qualified on his own for this particular role, because ‘it’s the type of position where you need someone with an outgoing personality.’ (Andrew Giuliani didn’t return a request for comment.)” [Atlantic, 11/18/20]
¶ A Trio Of Mar-A-Lago Members Became An Informal Council With Tremendous Influence Over The VA
*See Veterans Doc For More
ProPublica: Bruce Moskowitz, Ike Perlmutter, And Marc Sherman Made Up An Informal Council Dubbed “The Mar-A-Lago Crowd” Who Exerted “Sweeping” Influence Over The VA From Trump’s Palm Beach Club. According to ProPublica, “Last February, shortly after Peter O’Rourke became chief of staff for the Department of Veterans Affairs, he received an email from Bruce Moskowitz with his input on a new mental health initiative for the VA. […] More to the point, he is one-third of an informal council that is exerting sweeping influence on the VA from Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, Florida. The troika is led by Ike Perlmutter, the reclusive chairman of Marvel Entertainment, who is a longtime acquaintance of President Trump’s. The third member is a lawyer named Marc Sherman. None of them has ever served in the U.S. military or government. Yet from a thousand miles away, they have leaned on VA officials and steered policies affecting millions of Americans. They have remained hidden except to a few VA insiders, who have come to call them ‘the Mar-a-Lago Crowd.’” [ProPublica, 8/7/18]
¶ The “Mar-A-Lago Crowd” Used Their Influence To Benefit Their Private Interests
“Mar-A-Lago Crowd” Used Their Influence To Benefit Their Private Interests. According to ProPublica, “At times, Perlmutter, Moskowitz and Sherman have created headaches for VA officials because of their failure to follow government rules and processes. In other cases, they used their influence in ways that could benefit their private interests. They say they never sought or received any financial gain for their advice to the VA.” [ProPublica, 8/7/18]
¶ Barry Nigro – Department Of Justice
Barry Nigro Was A Trump Golf Club Member And Named To Be Second In Command In The Antitrust Division Of Department Of Justice. According to USA Today, “He named three otherclub members to jobs in the administration: Adolfo Marzol, former director of a mortgage insurance firm, as a senior adviser at the Department of Housing and Urban Development; Washington lawyer Barry Nigro, a Washington lawyer, as second in command of the Justice Department’s antitrust arm; and Andrew Giuliani, the son of Trump’s private lawyer Rudy Giuliani, to a public liaison post.” [USA Today, 2/8/19]
¶ Adolfo Marzol – Senior Advisor At The Department of Housing and Urban Development
Adolfo Marzol Was A Trump Golf Club Member And Appointed As Senior Adviser At The Department of Housing and Urban Development. According to USA Today, “He named three otherclub members to jobs in the administration: Adolfo Marzol, former director of a mortgage insurance firm, as a senior adviser at the Department of Housing and Urban Development; Washington lawyer Barry Nigro, a Washington lawyer, as second in command of the Justice Department’s antitrust arm; and Andrew Giuliani, the son of Trump’s private lawyer Rudy Giuliani, to a public liaison post.” [USA Today, 2/8/19]
¶ Ben Carson Jr. And His Wife Used Official HUD Events For Personal Business
¶ HUD Officials Warned Ben Carson That Allowing His Family To Be Involved In Official Business Could Be An Ethics Violation But Allowed It Anyway
Carson Ignored Ethics Warnings And Allowed His Son, Ben Carson Jr., Be Involved In Planning A HUD Listening Tour—An Event Intended To Provide Sec. Carson An Opportunity To See Federal Housing Projects And Convey His Policy Vision. According to the Washington Post, “The two-page memo, obtained by The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), details conference calls and meetings that Cruciani and her colleagues had with Carson, his son and other senior HUD officials to urge that Carson Jr. not be involved in the listening tour, an event intended to give the secretary a chance to see federally supported housing projects firsthand and to convey his policy vision to the public.” [Washington Post, 1/31/18]
¶ Carson’s Son, Wife, And Daughter In Law Attended And Planned HUD Events
Carson Relied On His Wife, Son, And Daughter In Law For Official Work As They Attended Official Events With Other Elected Officials. According to the Washington Post, “The warnings highlight the extent to which Carson has relied on close family members since joining the Cabinet. His wife, Candy Carson, son Carson Jr. and daughter-in-law Merlynn Carson have attended official meetings, according to current and former HUD officials. Early last year, Candy Carson accompanied her husband around the building and to official meetings both inside and outside HUD, officials said. Carson Jr. has continued to attend official HUD events with his father and other elected officials, including during the secretary's October trip to Baltimore's Helping Up Mission, a faith-based group that helps men facing addiction and homelessness.” [Washington Post, 1/31/18]
¶ HUD Officials Worried Carson Jr. And His Wife Used HUD Events For Personal Business
A HUD Official Worried Carson Jr. And His Wife Were Using The Official Events For Personal Business. According to the Washington Post, “Patton said Carson Jr. and his wife ‘may be doing business with these entities or may be interested in doing business with these entities,’ Cruciani wrote.” [Washington Post, 1/31/18]
¶ Carson’s Son And Daughter In Law Earned A Large Government Contract After Inviting Department Head To Join Listening Tour
Merylynn Carson (Daughter In Law Of Ben Carson) And Carson Jr.’s Consulting Company Myriddian Was Awarded $485,000 Government Contract From CMS Following The Listening Tour. According to The Washington Post, "The officials also told Cruciani that Carson Jr. and his wife asked that Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, be invited. A little less than three months later, according to federal records, CMS awarded a $485,000 contract to the consulting company Myriddian, whose chief executive is Merlynn Carson. Carson Jr. identifies himself online as one of Myriddian's board members. The contract was awarded without a competitive bidding process, federal records show, although a CMS spokesman said multiple minority-owned firms were considered. " [Washington Post, 1/31/18]
- Carson Jr. And His Wife Requested CMS Administrator Be Invited. According to The Washington Post, "The officials also told Cruciani that Carson Jr. and his wife asked that Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, be invited. A little less than three months later, according to federal records, CMS awarded a $485,000 contract to the consulting company Myriddian, whose chief executive is Merlynn Carson. Carson Jr. identifies himself online as one of Myriddian's board members. The contract was awarded without a competitive bidding process, federal records show, although a CMS spokesman said multiple minority-owned firms were considered. " [Washington Post, 1/31/18]
¶ Trump’s Friends, Customers, And Donors Got Ambassadorships
¶ David Friedman, Trump’s Longtime Lawyer, Named Ambassador To Israel
Trump Nominated His Longtime Lawyer David Friedman As Ambassador To Israel. According to NPR, “President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday he will nominate bankruptcy attorney David Friedman as U.S. ambassador to Israel. Friedman, who has no prior diplomatic experience, is an outspoken supporter of Jewish settlement on the Israeli-occupied West Bank and has questioned the need for a Palestinian state.” [NPR, 12/16/16]
¶ Trump Fundraisers Named To Ambassadorships
¶ Woody Johnson – Ambassador To The United Kingdom
Trump Nominated Woody Johnson As Ambassador To The United Kingdom. According to CNN, “The White House officially nominated New York Jets’ owner Robert ‘Woody’ Johnson as ambassador to the United Kingdom Friday, more than five months after President Donald Trump first named him as his pick for the role. Johnson, who was a top fundraiser for Trump’s presidential campaign and the Republican National Committee, will now have to be confirmed by the Senate. Trump first announced his intention to tap Johnson on the eve of his inauguration, telling supporters at a luncheon that Johnson was ‘going to St. James,’ an apparent reference to the fact the US ambassador to the UK is formally known as the ambassador to the ‘Court of St James’s’.” [CNN, 6/23/17]
Johnson Was A Top Fundraiser For Trump’s Presidential Campaign. According to USA Today, “Johnson, a veteran Republican fundraiser and donor, served as a top fundraiser for Trump and the Republican National Committee during the general election battle.” [USA Today, 1/19/17]
¶ Kelly Knight Craft – Ambassador Canada And Then To The UN
¶ Craft Held Two Coveted Ambassadorships: Canada And UN
Trump Nominated Kelly Knight Craft As U.S. Ambassador To Canada. According to BBC, “President Donald Trump has nominated Kelly Knight Craft as US ambassador to Canada. The Kentucky native is a major Republican fundraiser and has diplomatic experience as a US delegate to the United Nations. If confirmed, Ms Craft will be coming to Canada at a sensitive time between the two countries. North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) talks are set to begin soon between the US, Canada and Mexico.” [BBC, 6/15/17]
Craft Was Confirmed As Ambassador To UN. According to the New York Times, “Kelly Knight Craft, the United States ambassador to Canada, was confirmed on Wednesday to serve as the next ambassador to the United Nations. More than five months after President Trump announced Ms. Craft as his nominee for the post, the Senate approved the appointment in a 56-to-34 vote largely along party lines, with only five Democrats deciding in her favor.” [New York Times, 7/31/19]
¶ Craft Was A Gold-LevelMember Of Trump Rewards And Frequently Spotted At Trump Properties
Craft Went To Trump Tower. According to Politico, “Trump began courting major GOP donors almost immediately after he sealed the nomination in May. A veritable parade of Republican billionaires and financiers traipsed through Trump Tower that month, among them coal magnate Joe Craft and his wife Kelly Knight, fellow energy executive Robert Murray and New York Jets owner Woody Johnson.” [Politico, 8/9/16]
Craft And Her Husband Were Gold-Level Members Of The Trump Card Rewards Program. According to the Washington Post, “The Crafts were listed as gold-level members of the Trump Card rewards program when they checked in for a three-day stay. They were also described as ‘high-rate’ customers, and their listing bore the notation R(20), which former Trump Hotels employees have said indicates customers who’ve stayed at least 20 times. That was an unusually high number among the hundreds of Trump hotel guests whose VIP listings have been reviewed by The Post.” [Washington Post, 2/22/19]
¶ Craft And Her Husband Held A Fundraiser For Trump
July 2016: Craft And Her Husband Held A Fundraiser For Trump In Lexington, And Donated $5,400. According to the Courier-Journal, “Trump became the presumptive GOP nominee May 4 when the last of his rivals dropped out. His July surge in Kentucky was fueled by hundreds of small-dollar donations from around the state, according to records with the Federal Election Commission. A July 11 fundraiser in Lexington also helped, yielding several $2,700 checks. (Federal campaign laws allow individuals to donate no more than that amount per election, or $5,400 total for a primary and a general election.) Donations logged with the Trump campaign from July 11-15 totaled about $113,000 from Kentucky, but not all the donations were tied directly to the fundraiser. Joe Craft, president and CEO of Alliance Resource Partners, and Kelly Knight Craft, a top GOP fundraiser, hosted the event.” [Courier-Journal, 8/27/16]
¶ Doug Manchester – Ambassador To The Bahamas
Trump Nominated Major Fundraiser Doug Manchester As Ambassador To The Bahamas. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, “President Donald Trump announced Monday that he has nominated San Diego hotelier Doug Manchester to become the next United States ambassador to the Bahamas. The selection comes after months of rumors that Manchester, a major Trump fundraiser, would be picked for the top diplomatic post to the island-nation.” [San Diego Union-Tribune, 5/16/17]
Manchester And His Wife Each Gave $454,800 To Trump’s Political Committee And Trump-Supporting Super PACs. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, “Manchester was one of Trump’s early political backers and supported the now-president with his time, money, and network. Manchester and his wife, Geniya Manchester, each gave $454,800 to Trump’s political committee and Trump-supporting Super PACS, more than anyone else in the San Diego area. Manchester also helped organize a large campaign rally last May at the Convention Center (where Trump quipped that Manchester could build the wall at the border with Mexico) and planned multi-million dollar fundraisers. Manchester, who has no foreign policy experience, will require Senate confirmation to become ambassador.” [San Diego Union-Tribune, 5/16/17]
¶ Gordon Sondland – Ambassador To The EU
Trump Nominated Sondland To Be Ambassador To The EU. According to Oregon Live, “President Trump has nominated Gordon Sondland, a Portland hotel magnate and major donor to the president, to be ambassador to the European Union.The nomination, announced by the White House on Thursday, makes Sondland, 60, the Oregonian who would have the highest-ranking position within the Trump administration if confirmed by the U.S. Senate.” [Oregon Live, 5/11/18]
Gordon Sondland Donated $1 Million To Trump’s Inaugural Committee. According to Open Secrets, “Gordon Sondland, the chairman of Provenance Hotels and a big supporter of the extended Bush family (including former President George W.), gave $1 million to the inaugural committee through four LLCs: BV-2 LLC, Dunson Cornerstone LLC, Buena Vista Investments LLC, and Dunson Investments LLC. Sondland gave $2,700 to the early favorite to capture the GOP nomination, Jeb Bush, and $22,000 to Bush’s super PAC, Right to Rise, last cycle, but none to Trump.” [Open Secrets, 4/19/17]
¶ Top Republican Operatives And Campaign Loyalists Were Appointed To Ambassador Posts
¶ Sharon Day – Ambassador To Costa Rica
Trump Nominated Sharon Day, Former Co-Chair Of The Republican National Committee, To Be Ambassador To Costa Rica. According to the Tampa Bay Times, “President Donald Trump has nominated Florida’s Sharon Day to be ambassador to Costa Rica, rewarding a campaign loyalist and key figure in Republican politics. Day appeared at numerous Trump rallies in Florida and spoke at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. She has served as co-chair of the Republican National Committee.” [Tampa Bay Times, 6/15/17]
¶ Lewis Eisenberg – Ambassador To Italy
Trump Nominated Lewis Eisenberg As Ambassador To Italy And San Marino. According to Politico, “U.S. President Donald Trump will formally nominate two prominent Republicans as the ambassadors to Italy and the Czech Republic. The White House announced Monday evening Trump’s intention to nominate Lewis Eisenberg as the U.S. envoy to Italy and San Marino, and Stephen King will serve as ambassador to the Czech Republic.” [Politico, 7/11/17]
- Eisenberg Was A Long Time Republican Party Fundraiser And Was McCain’s National Finance Chairman In 2008. According to Politico, "Eisenberg began his career as a banker at Goldman Sachs before co-founding Granite Capital International Group. He is a long time Republican Party fundraiser and served as National Finance Chairman for U.S. Senator John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign." [Politico, 7/11/17]
¶ Stephen B. King – Ambassador To The Czech Republic
Trump Nominated Stephen B. King As Ambassador To The Czech Republic. According to Fox News, “President Donald Trump has nominated candidates for two ambassadorial positions, according to the White House. Lewis M. Eisenberg has been chosen to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to Italy, in addition to concurrently serving as Ambassador to the Republic of San Marino. Stephen B. King, of Wisconsin, has been nominated to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic.” [Fox News, 7/10/17]
- King Was A Long Time Member Of The RNC And Close Friends With Paul Ryan And Reince Priebus. According to Politico, "King, a businessman and Republican Party activist, is a longtime member of the Republican National Committee. He is from Janesville, Wisconsin, which is the hometown of U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. King is reportedly close to Ryan and White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, who is also from Wisconsin." [Politico, 7/11/17]
¶ Jamie McCourt – Ambassador To Belgium
Trump Nominated Jamie McCourt As Ambassador To Belgium. According to Politico, “Trump’s pick for ambassador to Belgium, Jamie McCourt, is also a sports fan, having been the president and chief executive of the Los Angeles Dodgers, a baseball team. McCourt, ‘a prominent entrepreneur and attorney,’ backed Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign .and, according to the White House press release announcing her nomination, ‘speaks French.’” [Politico, 6/23/17]
- McCourt Donated Over $400,000 To Trump’s Campaign And Joined 100 Business Leaders To Sign Letter Stating Clinton Had “Thrown In The Towel On The Idea Of Strong Economic Growth.” According to the Baltimore Sun, “A businesswoman and attorney, McCourt emerged last year as a major Trump supporter, donating more than $400,000 to his campaign. She was among 100 business leaders who signed a letter in October arguing that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton had "thrown in the towel on the idea of strong economic growth.’” [Baltimore Sun, 9/26/17]
¶ Mar-A-Lago And Trump Golf Members Appointed To Ambassadorships And Administration Jobs
CREW: “You Have To Question Whether These Members Of His Clubs Are Getting These Appointments Because They Deserve Them Or Because They’re His Paying Customers.” According to USA Today, “‘You have to question whether these members of his clubs are getting these appointments because they deserve them or because they’re his paying customers,’ said Jordan Libowitz, the communication director for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which has been sharply critical of Trump’s decision to retain ownership of his businesses while in the White House. ‘You get into really bad territory when people start wondering if the president has put the government up for sale.’” [USA Today, 2/8/19]
¶ Callista Gingrich – Ambassador To The Vatican
Trump Nominated Callista Gingrich As Ambassador To The Vatican. According to The Hill, “President Trump has nominated Callista Gingrich, the wife of former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), as ambassador to the Holy See, the White House announced Friday. The nomination comes just five days before Trump is set to meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican during his first trip abroad as president. The nomination follows months of speculation and vetting that at one point, according to a New York Times report, nearly drove Gingrich to withdraw herself from consideration.” [The Hill, 5/19/17]
Gingrich Was A Member Of Trump Golf Course In Virginia. According to USA Today, “Trump named Callista Gingrich, a longtime member of his Virginia golf club and wife of former House Speaker and Trump confidant Newt Gingrich, as the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.” [USA Today, 2/8/19]
¶ Lana Marks – Ambassador To South Africa
Lana Marks Was A Luxury Handbag Designer And Mar-A-Lago Member Nominated To Ambassador To South Africa. According to USA Today, “Lana Marks, a luxury handbag designer Trump nominated last year as ambassador to South Africa, grew up in that country but moved away more than four decades ago. She has spent most of her career building a business around bags that can cost $10,000 or more. Marks declined to answer questions about her nomination, her qualifications or her membership in Mar-a-Lago, a short drive from her Palm Beach home. Instead, she said she was ‘tremendously honored that I can use my knowledge of the people and culture of South Africa to serve the United States.’” [USA Today, 2/8/19]
¶ Adrian Zuckerman – Ambassador To Romania
Adrian Zuckerman Was A Member Of Trump Golf Club Bedminster And Nominated To Be Ambassador To Romania. According to USA Today, “Trump nominated Adrian Zuckerman, a New York real estate lawyer, to be the U.S. ambassador to Romania last year. Zuckerman registered his golf handicap through Trump’s club in Bedminster, New Jersey, a service the club said is available only to members. Scores he posted on a public website show he played at the club eight times in 2017 on days when Trump was visiting. (He posted scores of 83 to 100 on those days.) Shortly after he was nominated, The New York Law Journal revealed that a legal secretary at Zuckerman’s firm had named him in a sexual harassment lawsuit in 2008, alleging that he used graphic language in the office and spoke to her about his sex life. The lawsuit was settled the following year. Zuckerman did not respond to requests for comment about his nomination or membership.” [USA Today, 2/8/19]
¶ David Cornstein – Ambassador To Hungary
David Cornstein Registered Golf Handicaps At Trump Golf Club West Palm Beach And Was Confirmed Ambassador To Hungary. According to USA Today, “Trump nominated David Cornstein as ambassador to Hungary. Cornstein and his wife, Sheila, both registered their golf handicaps through Trump’s club in West Palm Beach. The Senate confirmed Cornstein to the post in 2018. Cornstein had worked as the chairman of a high-end jewelry company, and for years, he ran the semi-private corporation in New York City that operates betting on horse races. He later served on the board of a company that buys jewelry and ran a small wealth management company. He declined to comment about his golf club membership through a spokesman for the embassy in Budapest.” [USA Today, 2/8/19]
- Only Members Were Allowed To Post Golf Handicaps. According to USA Today, “Trump nominated Adrian Zuckerman, a New York real estate lawyer, to be the U.S. ambassador to Romania last year. Zuckerman registered his golf handicap through Trump’s club in Bedminster, New Jersey, a service the club said is available only to members.” [USA Today, 2/8/19]
¶ Robin Bernstein – Ambassador To The Dominican Republic
Robin Bernstein Was A Founding Member Of Mar-A-Lago And Confirmed As Ambassador To The Dominican Republic. According to USA Today, “He chose Robin Bernstein, a founding member of Mar-a-Lago, as ambassador to the Dominican Republic. Both were confirmed by the Senate.” [USA Today, 2/8/19]
¶ The Trump Campaign’s Cronyism And Nepotism Siphoned Money And Power To Those Close To The Trump Family
¶ Trump Affiliates Consolidated Power Within The Republican Party And Directed Money INto Their Own Pockets
Vendors Associated With Jared Kushner, Brad Parscale, And Trump Appointees Have Billed The Trump Campaign, RNC, And Republican Groups $75 Million Since 2017. According to the New York Times, “President Trump’s campaign manager and a circle of allies have seized control of the Republican Party’s voter data and fund-raising apparatus, using a network of private businesses whose operations and ownership are cloaked in secrecy, largely exempt from federal disclosure. Working under the aegis of Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, with the cooperation of Trump appointees at the Republican National Committee, the operatives have consolidated power — and made money — in a way not possible in an earlier, more transparent analog era. Since 2017, businesses associated with the group have billed roughly $75 million to the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee and a range of other Republican clients.” [New York Times, 3/9/20]
¶ Parscale Netted $35 Million To His Company From The Trump Campaign, RNC, And Republican Groups
Parscale Strategy Billed Nearly $35 Million Since 2017 From The Trump Campaign, RNC, And Republican Groups. According to the New York Times, The process has not been exactly frictionless, shot through with accusations of empire-building and profiteering by the campaign manager, Brad Parscale, and his allies. Mr. Parscale’s flagship firm, Parscale Strategy, has billed nearly $35 million to the Trump campaign, the R.N.C. and related entities since 2017 — the vast bulk of it, he says, passed along to advertising and digital firms.” [New York Times, 3/9/20]
¶ Parscale Said He Followed Orders To Only Make $700-800K
Parscale Said He Followed Trump’s Orders, Conveyed To Him Through Ronna McDaniel, That He Should Only Make $700-$800K For Campaign Work. According to the New York Times, “To allay Mr. Trump’s concerns, tens of millions of dollars worth of campaign advertising that once ran through Parscale Strategy has been redirected to a new company, American Made Media, which is run by a Parscale lieutenant. There are no public records detailing the company’s financial structure; Mr. Parscale and other advisers said they did not profit from it. Mr. Parscale has declined to provide detailed accounting of his network of interlocking businesses, and has told associates he follows Mr. Trump’s directive, relayed through Ms. McDaniel, that he make no more than $700,000 or $800,000 for his campaign work.” [New York Times, 3/9/20]
¶ Trump-Allied Vendor Group Directed Lucrative Contracts To Each Other’s Firms
Parscale-Led Vendor Group Included Katie Shields, Mike Shields, And Gerrit Lansing. According to the New York Times, “The Parscale-led group — including Katie Walsh Shields and her husband, Mike Shields, both former R.N.C. chiefs of staff; and the party’s former digital director, Gerrit Lansing — has also presided over the creation of a number of other political tools, from the president’s affiliated super PACs to a forthcoming party-controlled news app intended to produce cheerleading content.” [New York Times, 3/9/20]
Shortly After Katie Shields Became A Senior Advisor For The RNC, Parscale’s Firm Was Brought For Digital Ads Totaling $25 Million. According to the Washington Post, “In 2017, the RNC elected a new chairwoman, McDaniel, a former chair of the Michigan GOP and a niece of Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), whom Katie Walsh had recommended for the job, said people familiar with her role. That summer, Walsh became a senior adviser for the party, where she is involved in many major decisions, former officials said. As she has served in that role, there has been consternation inside the party about RNC contracts that have gone to her allies, said former party officials. ‘With Brad and Katie and Brad and Mike, they so often come as a package,’ said a Republican operative familiar with their work, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid retribution. Months after Walsh rejoined the RNC as a consultant, the party began paying Parscale’s firm to place its ads on digital platforms, according to filings and those familiar with the arrangement. In all, the national party has paid Parscale Strategy $25 million since 2017, filings show. The vast majority of the money was passed along to buy ads, said Parscale, who said his firm kept a fee of 1.5 percent of the ad purchases.” [Washington Post, 10/23/19]
Katie Shields’ Consulting Firm Had $25,000 RNC Monthly Retainer, And Contract For 1% To 5% Of All Money Fundraised For 2020 Convention. According to the New York Times, “With or without a stake in WinRed, key aides have positioned themselves at the center of a formidable political machine. Ms. Walsh-Shields’s consulting firm receives a $25,000-a-month R.N.C. retainer and 1 to 5 percent of money it raises for the party’s 2020 convention. Mr. Shields’s firm, Convergence Media, represents clients ranging from the National Republican Congressional Committee to Representative Devin Nunes of California, one of the president’s staunchest defenders against impeachment.” [New York Times, 3/9/20]
¶ WinRed Fundraising Platform Sparked Internal Controversy As Trump Allies Aimed To Consolidate Fundraising Profits
According To A Senior GOP Strategist, A “Tight-Knit” Group Of Insiders Were Poised To Make Money From The Platform Switch. According to Real Clear Politics, “These Republicans are most suspicious about who is making money on the WinRed platform and question why a small coterie of former RNC and other national party committee officials appear to be spearheading the push. ‘There’s a very tight-knit group of people who have negotiated this deal and have rushed it through,’ a senior GOP strategist said in an interview. ‘Nothing says innovation like threatening to sue your competitors. That just on its face should tell you everything you need to know about the technology [being inferior].’” [Real Clear Politics, 7/16/19]
¶ Parscale Was A Director Of Company Affiliated By WinRed
Parscale Sat On The Board Of Directors Of A Company Affiliated With WinRed. According to ABC News, “Sources close to the Trump campaign and the White House have expressed concern about the opaque corporate and ownership hierarchy at WinRed and other key vendors to the campaign and the RNC. Some have questioned whether key decision makers at the campaign and the party have any financial connection to those vendors. WinRed was formed with the help of another firm, Data Trust. Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale sits on the DataTrust board of directors. An RNC official told ABC News that no one on the board of directors is benefiting from the contract.” [ABC News, 7/30/19]
¶ Gerrit Lansing Directed Campaigns To Use His Own Platform Revv As RNC Digital Director, Earning Himself Over $900,000
Lansing Worked For Trump’s 2016 Campaign And His Administration. According to Politico Pro, “Gerrit Lansing — the Republican National Committee digital official who stepped into the Trump campaign its final months to upgrade its online operation — will join the Trump White House as chief digital officer, POLITICO Playbook reports. Lansing, who has worked for the Heritage Foundation and the House Budget Committee, will take on a White House role that's expanding under Trump, according to the report.” [Politico Pro, 1/18/17]
Lansing Founded Revv, Took $909,000 Payout After Encouraging Campaigns To Use Revv As RNC Digital Director. According to Politico, “Republican operatives representing multiple GOP presidential and Senate campaigns said that Lansing pushed them to use the company he co-founded, Revv, to collect their online donations after he was hired for the top RNC job — and that he used the fact that the RNC was using his platform as a selling point. Lansing was subsequently named to a top role in Trump’s White House. The controversy puts White House press secretary Sean Spicer in an awkward spot. As the RNC’s chief strategist, Spicer denied to POLITICO in mid-2016 that Lansing had any financial stake in Revv. ‘He has zero connection to Revv,’ Spicer said then. ‘He had to sever the ties.’ In fact, Lansing never did. He received a $909,000 payout from the company last year.” [Politico, 4/18/17]
¶ WinRed Was Created Atop Revv’s Platform With Revv Receiving 60% Of The Profits From WinRed
Summer, 2019: WinRed Was Created Off Of Revv’s Platform With Revv Taking 60% Of The Profits. According to the New York Times, “By the summer of 2019, WinRed was created atop Revv’s platform, but only after negotiations that ended with the Senate campaign committee, and R.N.C. representatives, imposing restrictions that blocked Mr. Lansing from selling WinRed in the future and tightening control of firms he could hire. Mr. Lansing, in a statement, called WinRed ‘the work of seven months of lawyering to ensure every major stakeholder would be happy with all data, financial and ownership arrangements.’ The new company was a joint venture between Revv and Data Trust, with 60 percent of profits going to Revv. (WinRed charges campaigns 3.8 percent, plus 30 cents per credit card transaction.) Officials involved would not detail Mr. Lansing’s remuneration.” [New York Times, 3/9/20]
¶ Party Officials Called Efforts To Force The Entire GOP Onto WinRed Platform “Crony Capitalism”
Party Leaders Said The Push To Force The Entire GOP Onto WinRed Was A Money Grab And “Crony Capitalism.” According to Real Clear Politics, “Republican national party leaders decided to publicly strong-arm state and local GOP officials, as well as some members of Congress, in a battle over the best way to raise small-dollar donations from the conservative grassroots. Now those forces are pushing back against what they regard as both a money and a data grab antithetical to bedrock GOP free market principles, according to RealClearPolitics interviews with more than a dozen state party officials, veteran national campaign operatives and fundraising experts. One Republican National Committee member called the push to consolidate all Republicans around one fundraising platform ‘Obamacare for GOP fundraising,’ while an executive for a state party labeled the effort ‘crony capitalism’ of the worst kind.” [Real Clear Politics, 7/16/19]
¶ Lara Trump And Kimberly Guilfoyle Were Given Jobs ON The Trump Campaign And Were Paid Through Parscale’s PRivate COmpany
Lara Trump Was Hired To Serve As A Liaison Between Giles-Parscale And Trump’s Campaign In New York. According to the Associated Press, “The digital vendor for President Donald Trump's political campaign has hired a new senior consultant: the president's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump. The New Yorker, Eric Trump's wife, will serve as a liaison for San Antonio, Texas-based Giles-Parscale to Trump's ongoing campaign, based at Trump Tower in Manhattan. Giles-Parscale President Brad Parscale says she's an ‘incredibly talented person with the right experience for us.’ Parscale says Lara Trump has a background in marketing and helped on Trump's 2016 political bid. Parscale's firm also serves as the data and digital provider for America First Policies, a nonprofit group started earlier this year to back Trump's presidential agenda. A representative for Lara Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.” [Associated Press, 3/29/17]
Guilfoyle Was The Chair Of The Trump Victory Finance Committee. According to The Hill, “President Trump’s reelection campaign announced Wednesday that Kimberly Guilfoyle would lead the joint fundraising effort between the campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC). Guilfoyle, a former Fox News personality and the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, will serve as the national chairwoman of the Trump Victory Finance Committee, which has been a fundraising powerhouse heading into the 2020 election.” [The Hill, 1/15/20]
Parscale Strategy Paid Guilfoyle And Lara Trump. According to the New York Times, “According to two people with knowledge of the matter, Parscale Strategy has also been used to make payments out of public view to Lara Trump, the wife of the president’s son Eric, and Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr., who have been surrogates on the stump and also taken on broader advisory roles. Their presence makes for an odd dynamic between a campaign manager and a candidate’s family.” [New York Times, 3/9/20]
¶ The Trump Campaign Paid $50,000 For Guilfoyle’s Birthday Party At Mar-A-Lago
The Trump Campaign Paid $50,000 For Guilfoyle’s Birthday Party At Mar-A-Lago. According to the New York Times, “But when it came to picking up the tab, hands went out to other attendees. Among them were at least four whose families are financial supporters of the president’s re-election campaign, for which Ms. Guilfoyle helps lead the fund-raising. They ended up pitching in tens of thousands of dollars, passed along to Mar-a-Lago, to help pay for what two people familiar with the planning said was a $50,000 celebration of Ms. Guilfoyle’s 51st birthday.” [New York Times, 3/17/20]
¶ Guilfoyle Was Paid $60,000 For A Two-And-A-Half Minute Speech At Jan 6th Rally By Trump’s “Election Defense Fund”
Guilfoyle Was Paid $60,000 For A Two-And-A-Half Minute Speech At Jan 6th Rally By Trump’s “Election Defense Fund.” According to USA Today, “Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former presidential adviser and fiancée to Donald Trump Jr., was paid $60,000 for an appearance at a rally just before the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol using money raised for an ‘Election Defense Fund,’ according to a member of the House committee investigating the attack. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., told CNN's Jake Tapper in an interview Monday the committee had discovered that Guilfoyle was paid for the 2.5-minute speech using money Trump raised as he aired the conspiracy that the 2020 election was stolen.” [USA Today, 6/14/22]
¶ Trump’s PAC And Committees Spent Millions On Companies connected To Trump Family And Friends
¶ Save America PAC Paid Millions To Law Firms That Represented Trump’s Children
Save America PAC Spent $2.3 Million At Two Law Firms That Represented Ivanka Trump. According to Business Insider, “A political fundraising group controlled by Donald Trump has spent millions of dollars on law firms representing his adult children for their personal legal problems. The group, called Save America PAC, spent a combined $2.3 million in 2023 for two law firms that represented Ivanka Trump, his eldest daughter, according to a Business Insider review of Federal Election Commission records.” [Business Insider, 2/6/24]
Save America PAC Spent $5.3 Million On Robert & Robert, A Law Firm That Represented Trump’s Children Don Jr., Eric, And Ivanka. According to Business Insider, “The PAC spent an additional $5.3 million on the law firm Robert & Robert, which represented his three eldest children — Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump, and Donald Trump, Jr. — as well as the Trump Organization in an array of lawsuits that have no apparent relation to Trump's campaign to retake the presidency in the 2024 election.” [Business Insider, 2/6/24]
¶ Trump PAC Continued To Pay Melania’s Former Hairdresser
Save America Leadership PAC Paid Melania’s Former Hairdresser Herve Pierre Braillard For “Strategy Consulting.” According to Fox News, “Former President Donald Trump's Save America leadership PAC paid at least $132,000 to Melania Trump's former hairdresser in 2022, dubbing the expenditure as payment for ‘strategy consulting,’ according to a report from the group. The political PAC reported the expenditure in its year-end filing earlier this week. The report details payments to the stylist, Herve Pierre Braillard, with eight installments of $18,000 and $6,000 labeled ‘Strategy Consulting,’ amounting to $132,000.” [Fox News, 2/1/23]
Save America Paid Braillard $132,000 In 2022. According to Fox News, “Former President Donald Trump's Save America leadership PAC paid at least $132,000 to Melania Trump's former hairdresser in 2022, dubbing the expenditure as payment for ‘strategy consulting,’ according to a report from the group. The political PAC reported the expenditure in its year-end filing earlier this week. The report details payments to the stylist, Herve Pierre Braillard, with eight installments of $18,000 and $6,000 labeled ‘Strategy Consulting,’ amounting to $132,000.” [Fox News, 2/1/23]
¶ Save America Directed Money To Non-Profits That Employed Former Trump Officials
Save America Gave $1 Million To Mark Meadows’ Conservative Partnership Institute And $1 Million To The America First Policy Institute That Linda McMahon Chairs. According to the Washington Post, “Save America’s funds have also helped support nonprofits employing former White House staff, including $1 million to the Conservative Partnership Institute — Meadows’s new employer — and $1 million to the America First Policy Institute, whose board chair is Linda McMahon, formerly Trump’s director of the Small Business Administration.” [Washington Post, 10/11/22]
A Majority Of Save America PAC’s Expenditures That Were Over $500,000 Went To Non-Election Related Entities. According to the Washington Post, “Trump’s leadership PAC has shied from such commitments. Among Save America’s expenditures totaling $500,000 or more, just seven have gone to groups devoted primarily to spending in races this cycle. Meanwhile, 10 such payments have gone to a wide range of other recipients, including law firms and vendors that stage Trump’s events throughout the country. The Smithsonian Institution was sent $650,000 to fund portraits of Trump and former first lady Melania Trump for the National Portrait Gallery.” [Washington Post, 10/11/22]
¶ Trump’s Committees Paid Tens Of Millions Of Dollars To Lawyers Representing Trump’s Codefendants And Potential Witnesses
Trump’s Political Campaigns Have Paid Over $44 Million To Lawyers And Firms Representing Potential Witnesses And Codefendants Since 2020, Accounting For About Half Of All Legal Expenses. According to OpenSecrets, “Prosecutors are probing former President Donald Trump’s political operation after it paid over $44 million to lawyers and law firms that have represented potential witnesses and codefendants in his ongoing legal cases since 2020 — accounting for about half of the operation’s legal expenses during that time, a new OpenSecrets analysis found. The political network’s payments to lawyers and law firms that represent witnesses and defendants in the former president’s ongoing legal cases have raised concerns about Trump pressuring witnesses citing the former president’s history of allegedly trying to influence witnesses. From Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe and Trump’s first impeachment to the mounting number of ongoing legal cases, Trump also has provided lawyers to allies caught up in his own legal cases.” [OpenSecrets, 9/22/23]
¶ Trump’s Committees Paid Millions To Law Firms That Represented Figures In The Efforts To Overturn The 2020 Election
Trump’s Committees Paid Jones Day, Which Represented Lindsey Graham In The Fulton County Investigation And Advised Bill Barr In The Mueller Investigation, More Than $19 Million. According to OpenSecrets, “The Trump political network’s top-paid firm that has also represented potential witnesses in legal cases is Jones Day, which has collected more than $19 million from the operation since 2020. The firm represented Lindsay Graham in unsuccessful efforts to avoid testifying about attempts to overturn 2020 presidential election results in Fulton County, Ga. Graham’s campaign paid the firm $350,000 in January of this year. Jones Day also advised Trump Attorney General William Barr during a closed-door deposition and represented Trump’s campaign on election law and campaign finance compliance, as well as matters related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.” [OpenSecrets, 9/22/23]
Trump’s Committees Paid $4.2 Million To Jesse Binnall, Sidney Powell’s Co-Counsel. According to OpenSecrets, “Another $4.2 million has gone to the law firm of Jesse Binnall, Trump’s top election fraud lawyer. Even after the Jan. 6 insurrection, Binnall continued to spread false claims of voter fraud. The firm was involved in a failed legal fight in Nevada. Binnall was previously co-counsel with Sidney Powell on the defense team of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn. The firm was also paid for 2020 recount efforts, OpenSecrets analysis of Federal Election Commission filings found.” [OpenSecrets, 9/22/23]
Trump’s Committees Paid $4.1 Million To Stefan Passantino’s Elections LLC, Which Represented Several Witnesses That Testified Before The January 6 Committee. According to OpenSecrets, “Since 2020, Trump’s political network paid about $4.1 million to Elections LLC, which was launched by former White House ethics counsel Stefan Passantino and incorporated weeks before the Trump 2020 campaign’s first payment to it. Elections LLC also represented several witnesses appearing before the Jan. 6 committee.” [OpenSecrets, 9/22/23]
¶ Trump’s Committees Paid Millions To Law Firms Representing Current And Former Advisors
Trump’s Committees Paid $3.4 Million To Silverman Thompson Slutkin, Which Represented Steve Bannon. According to OpenSecrets, “Trump’s political network paid $3.4 million to Silverman Thompson Slutkin since the start of 2022. The firm represented Steve Bannon and has also represented Trump in the Mar-a-Lago document retention case.” [OpenSecrets, 9/22/23]
Trump’s Committees Paid $2.8 Million To Greenberg Traurig LLP, Which Represented Jason Miller. According to OpenSecrets, “Trump’s political network has paid about $2.8 to Greenberg Traurig LLP, a law firm that has represented former Trump adviser Jason Miller, who testified before the Jan. 6 select committee.” [OpenSecrets, 9/22/23]
¶ Trump’s Super PAC Paid Melania Trump $155,000 In 2021
Trump’s Former Super PAC Make America Great Again, Again Paid Melania Trump $155,000 In 2021 For A “Speaking Engagement.” According to the New York Times, “A super PAC aligned with former President Donald J. Trump paid Melania Trump $155,000 in late 2021, an unusual payment that was not visible in the group’s initial federal reports and came to light only in a new filing by Mr. Trump on Thursday. The money was listed as pay for a ‘speaking engagement’ by Ms. Trump in the new filing, a personal financial disclosure by Mr. Trump. The $155,000 payment was made in December 2021 by Make America Great Again, Again, which at the time was Mr. Trump’s leading super PAC.” [New York Times, 7/13/23]
Melania Trump’s Name Did Not Appear On The Super PAC’s List Of Expenditures, But Designer’s Management Agency, Which Listed Her As A Client, Did. According to the New York Times, “Ms. Trump’s name, however, did not appear on the super PAC’s list of expenditures, which were made public last year. Instead, the super PAC’s report showed two payments, for $125,000 and $30,000, to ‘Designer’s Management Agency,’ which lists Ms. Trump as a client, according to its website. The payments were made on Dec. 2 and Dec. 3, 2021; in the new disclosure, Mr. Trump reported that Ms. Trump was paid $155,000 on Dec. 2, 2021. [New York Times, 7/13/23]
The Payment Coincided With A Fundraising Dinner Held At Mar-a-Lago. According to the New York Times, “The December 2021 payment to Ms. Trump coincided with a private fund-raising dinner that the super PAC held at Mar-a-Lago and that Mr. Trump attended. Seats at the dinner were sold for $125,000 each and $250,000 for a couple.” [New York Times, 7/13/23]
¶ Melania Trump Was In The Situation Room For The Al-Baghdadi Raid
¶ MElanie Trump Sat In The Situation During A Raid That Led To The Death OF An Isis Leader
A Memoir Said That Melania Trump Sat In The Situation Room During Raid That Led To Death Of ISIS Leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. According to The Hill, “Melania Trump in October 2019 sat in and watched the U.S. raid that led to the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a compound in Syria, according to a new memoir set for release this week. The then-first lady was sitting directly inside the White House Situation Room and later suggested that the administration promote a story about the ‘hero dog’ involved in the raid. The details of the scene are included in ‘Soldier Secretary,’ a memoir by former acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller set for release on Tuesday. The Hill obtained an advanced copy of the book. Miller, who in 2019 was the special assistant to the president for counterterrorism and transnational threats, writes that Melania Trump joined several top-ranking officials to watch the raid from the Situation Room.” [The Hill, 2/6/23]
Melania Trump Suggested Promoting The Story About The “Hero Dog.” According to The Hill, “Melania Trump in October 2019 sat in and watched the U.S. raid that led to the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a compound in Syria, according to a new memoir set for release this week. The then-first lady was sitting directly inside the White House Situation Room and later suggested that the administration promote a story about the ‘hero dog’ involved in the raid. The details of the scene are included in ‘Soldier Secretary,’ a memoir by former acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller set for release on Tuesday. The Hill obtained an advanced copy of the book. Miller, who in 2019 was the special assistant to the president for counterterrorism and transnational threats, writes that Melania Trump joined several top-ranking officials to watch the raid from the Situation Room.” [The Hill, 2/6/23]
¶ Trump Family Heavily Featured At The 2020 Republican National Convention
¶ The 2020 Republican National Convention Featured Trump’s Family As Speakers Each Night
The 2020 Republican National Convention Featured A Member Of The Trump Family Speaking Each Night Of The Convention: Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr, Ivanka Trump, Tiffany Trump, Melania Trump, Lara Trump, And Kimberly Guilfoyle. According to CNN, “Not a night will pass at this week's Republican National Convention without a Trump in the spotlight. That doesn't just include the nightly ‘appearances’ President Donald Trump is planning for himself during his re-nomination extravaganza. Organizers have scheduled a son, daughter, wife or in-law to speak each evening -- programming a convention heavily reliant on his immediate family to provide character witness and a humanizing touch for what is otherwise expected to be a bombastic four-day event salted with cultural battles and outsized spectacle. […] Eric Trump, like all four of Trump's adult children, is scheduled to speak at his convention this week. The first lady will also address the convention from the newly renovated White House Rose Garden. Even the significant others of Trump's two grown sons -- both on his campaign's payroll -- will speak.” [CNN, 8/24/20]
CNN: Trump Relied On His Family To Attest To His Character As Opposed To Former Presidents Or Party Elders Who Appeared Unwilling To Be A Character Witnesses. According to CNN, “The reliance on Trump family members to vouch for the President -- opposed to former Republican presidents or other party elders -- underscores the degree to which the GOP has consolidated around Trump as an ideology and brand unto himself; in a document Sunday, Republicans said they would not formally adopt a new party platform aside from simply supporting Trump's agenda. The all-in-the-family convention also underscores the otherwise slim roster of associates or officials willing to attest to Trump as a relatable human being — a trait he doesn't necessarily work to amplify during public appearances or in speeches on the campaign trail.” [CNN, 8/24/20]
¶ Trump Backed Daughter-In-Law Lara Trump For RNC Co-Chair
¶ Trump Backed His Daughter-In-Law Lara Trump For Co-Chair Of The RNC
Trump Endorsed His Daughter-In-Law Lara Trump For RNC Co-Chair. According to Politico, “In addition to the Whatley nod, Trump will also support Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law, to serve as the RNC’s co-chairwoman. Lara Trump has long been an on-air surrogate for the ex-president, and during the 2022 campaign was briefly mentioned as a possible North Carolina Senate candidate. The endorsement does not mean that either Whatley or Lara Trump will automatically be given those posts. The committee must hold a vote among its members should McDaniel step down, as she is expected to shortly after the South Carolina primary on Feb. 24. But that will likely be a formality, as the party members are almost certain to support the preferences of the candidate set to the presidential nominee.” [Politico, 2/12/24]
Lara Trump Promised That As RNC Co-Chair, “Every Single Penny” Would Go To Support Trump. According to Salon, “During a recent appearance on the conservative network Newsmax, Trump claimed that ‘the RNC needs to be the leanest, most lethal political fighting machine we’ve ever seen in American history.’ ‘If I am elected to this position, I can assure you, there will not be any more $70,000 — or whatever exorbitant amount of money it was — spent on flowers,’ she said. ‘Every single penny will go to the No. 1 and the only job of the RNC — that is elected Donald J. Trump as president of the United States and saving this country.’” [Salon, 2/14/24]
¶ The RNC Ratified Trump’s Choices Of Michael Whatley And His Daughter-In-Law Lara Trump To Run The Organization
The Republican National Committee Ratified Trump’s Choices Of Michael Whatley And His Daughter-In-Law Lara Trump To Be The New Chair And Co-Chair Of The Party. According to CNN, “Donald Trump wasted little time putting his imprint on the Republican Party just days after becoming its presumptive presidential nominee. At the Republican National Committee’s spring meeting here Friday, members elevated Trump’s endorsed candidates – North Carolina GOP chairman Michael Whatley and the former president’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump – to serve as the organization’s new chair and co-chair, respectively.The two were elected to succeed outgoing RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and RNC co-chairman Drew McKissick. Neither faced any challengers Friday.” [CNN, 3/8/24]
¶ A Second Trump Term Could Feature More Nepotism
¶ Trump’s Family And Friends Were Being Considered For Key Positions Despite Lack Of Experience
Jared Kushner Was Under Consideration For Secretary Of State. According to Axios, “Jared Kushner, who was a huge power center in Trump's West Wing, has mostly kept his distance from the campaign so far — but might well return to the White House if his father-in-law wins again, with a continued interest in Middle East policy. Because Kushner would be talking with Trump's authority to world leaders anyway, one option would be secretary of state.” [Axios, 12/7/23]