Trump wants pardoned developer Charles Kushner as ambassador to France - Los Angeles Times
Advertisement

Trump wants pardoned real estate developer Charles Kushner as ambassador to France

A man in a suit looks to the side.
Charles Kushner, Jared Kushner’s father, was pardoned by President Trump in December 2020 after pleading guilty years earlier to tax evasion and making illegal campaign donations.
(John Minchillo / Associated Press)
Share via

President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday he intends to nominate real estate developer Charles Kushner, father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, to serve as ambassador to France.

Trump made the announcement in a Truth Social post, calling Charles Kushner “a tremendous business leader, philanthropist, & dealmaker.â€

Kushner is the founder of Kushner Companies, a real estate firm. Jared Kushner is a former White House senior advisor to Trump who is married to Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka.

Advertisement

The elder Kushner was pardoned by Trump in December 2020 after pleading guilty years earlier to tax evasion and making illegal campaign donations.

Prosecutors alleged that after Charles Kushner discovered his brother-in-law was cooperating with federal authorities in an investigation, he hatched a scheme for revenge and intimidation.

President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin share some traits and want some of the same things. But a chasm divides them.

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, prosecutors said.

Advertisement

Kushner eventually pleaded guilty to 18 counts including tax evasion and witness tampering. He was sentenced in 2005 to two years in prison — the most he could receive under a plea deal, but less than what Chris Christie, the U.S. attorney for New Jersey at the time and later governor and Republican presidential candidate, had sought.

Christie has blamed Jared Kushner for his firing from Trump’s transition team in 2016 and has called Charles Kushner’s offenses “one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes that I prosecuted when I was U.S. attorney.â€

Trump and the elder Kushner knew each other from real estate circles, and their children were married in 2009.

Advertisement

Associated Press writer Hussein reported from West Palm Beach, Tucker from Newtown, Pa.

Advertisement