Trump taps Charles Kushner, father of his son-in-law, as envoy to France
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Mr Charles Kushner (centre) was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump on Nov 30 as the US Ambassador to France.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON – President-elect Donald Trump on Nov 30 nominated Mr Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law Jared Kushner, as the US Ambassador to France, in the latest of several controversial picks.
Mr Kushner “is a tremendous business leader, philanthropist and dealmaker, who will be a strong advocate representing our country and its interests”, Trump said, on his Truth Social website, adding that Mr Jared Kushner “worked closely with me in the White House”.
The choice is in keeping with Trump’s pattern, so far, of selecting people, often wealthy, who are close to his family or of proven loyalty. Mr Kushner is a multi-millionaire real estate executive and former attorney; his son was a senior adviser during Trump’s first term.
But Trump did not mention that the elder Kushner once served jail time – a two-year sentence, most of it served in a federal prison.
Mr Kushner, who is now 70, pleaded guilty in 2004 to 18 counts of tax evasion, witness tampering and making illegal campaign contributions.
The case – which was prosecuted by then US attorney Chris Christie – included sordid details, to which Mr Kushner admitted: that he had hired a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law, a man cooperating in a campaign finance inquiry, and then videotaped the encounter and sent it to the man’s wife, Mr Kushner’s sister, to dissuade her from testifying against him.
Mr Christie, who worked on Trump’s first presidential transition team and then opposed him in the 2024 Republican primary contests, later said Mr Kushner had committed a “loathsome” and “disgusting crime”.
In 2020, Trump issued a pardon to Mr Kushner, whose conviction had resulted in him being disbarred in three states.
Nominees for key ambassadorships are often business associates of a president-elect or major political donors. But it is rare, if not unprecedented, to name a convicted felon.
The first two men to fill the prestigious Paris post were famed inventor and statesman Benjamin Franklin and a future president, Mr Thomas Jefferson.
If confirmed, Mr Kushner would succeed Ms Denise Bauer, a former ambassador to Belgium who was a major Democratic fund-raiser and donor. AFP
