US envoy Charles Kushner asked to meet France’s Sarkozy in jail, court says
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US Ambassador to France Charles Kushner (left) is the father of US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Mr Jared Kushner.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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- US Ambassador Charles Kushner sought to visit Nicolas Sarkozy in jail, permitted by the Paris appeals court, but the meeting did not occur in prison.
- Sarkozy was jailed for three weeks in November pending appeal for conspiring to raise funds from Libya, a charge he denies.
- Kushner, previously pardoned by Trump for his own jail term, has been active politically, criticising France and supporting right-wing figures.
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PARIS - Charles Kushner, the US ambassador to France, requested permission to visit former French president Nicolas Sarkozy in jail during his recent brief imprisonment, according to the Paris appeals court, which granted him permission to do so.
The meeting never took place, a source close to Sarkozy said, although Mr Kushner and the former president did meet outside prison.
Sarkozy, a conservative who was president from 2007 to 2012, was freed from a three-week jail stint in November as he appeals his conviction for conspiring to raise funds from Libya.
Mr Kushner - whose son Jared is married to US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka - has made waves since arriving in Paris as ambassador earlier this year.
He himself once served a jail sentence in the US for illegal campaign contributions and tax evasion, among other charges.
He received a presidential pardon from Mr Trump in 2020.
Reuters could not ascertain why Mr Kushner sought to meet Sarkozy, who was also visited in jail by his former protege, French Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin.
The US Embassy in Paris did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The State Department did not have immediate comment.
France’s former president Nicolas Sarkozy and wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy heading to La Sante Prison on Oct 21, to begin his five-year prison sentence.
PHOTO: AFP
The source close to Sarkozy declined to give more information on the matter, other than to say the former president plans to write about the episode in his upcoming book, The Journal Of A Prisoner, due out next week.
Senior US officials, including Mr Trump, have accused French courts of treating conservative politicians unfairly, seeking to limit their support and keep them from power. When a court convicted far-right leader Marine Le Pen of embezzlement
A State Department delegation met Ms Le Pen’s team earlier this year after her conviction, Reuters reported, but their offer of support was rebuffed by her aides.
Trump officials have also regularly weighed in on European politics to denounce what they say is suppression of right-wing politicians, including in Romania, Germany and France, accusing European authorities of censoring views such as criticism of immigration in the name of countering disinformation.
In August, Mr Kushner was summoned to the French Foreign Ministry after he wrote an open letter to President Emmanuel Macron alleging that France had failed to do enough to stem anti-Semitic violence.
In September, when a Paris court ruled that Sarkozy should be jailed, the former French leader said the decision undermined the rule of law and trust in the justice system. REUTERS
