Jared Must Go

Jared Kushner's appointment as White House senior adviser has been a travesty.  It's a clear violation of the federal anti-nepotism statute, notwithstanding Attorney General Beauregard's incorrect opinion that the president is somehow exempt from compliance.  As bad as that is, Jared's conflicts of interest are worse.

Last year, Kushner met at the White House with Citigroup and Apollo Global, a real estate finance firm.  Those two companies subsequently loaned $500 million to the Kushner Companies, the family real estate development business.

While supposedly working on U.S.-China policy, Jared solicited financing for his family business from a company linked to the Chinese government.  He sought business loans from both Israeli and Qatari investors while supposedly pursuing a Middle East peace plan.  The Kushner Companies bragged about its White House connections while trying to sell visas to wealthy Chinese investors.

Most of this begging and borrowing is tied to a boondoggle Manhattan office tower, 666 Fifth Avenue, which the Kushners bought in 2007 for a record $1.8 billion.  The building has yet to cover its nut, losing tens of millions of dollars each year, and a $1.2 billion mortgage is due and payable in full just 10 months from now.

Forgetful Jared had to revise his security clearance form over 100 times due to "errors and omissions."  His clearance was finally downgraded.  He had to amend his financial disclosure filings 39 times after "inadvertently" forgetting about assets worth millions.  And he's completely forgotten to disclose that he owns Cadre, a real estate company with ties to Russian state institutions which have substantial financial stakes in Facebook and Twitter.

Government officials from China, Mexico, Israel and the UAE have discussed the ease of exploiting and manipulating Kushner due to his inexperience and financial entanglements.  The leader of Saudi Arabia boasted that he had Kushner "in his pocket."

What a tangled web we weave!

Jared has only nominally divested himself from this mess.  (His divestiture trust is overseen by his mother.)  While he's allegedly working in the public interest, he still stands to gain financially from all his personal, private business holdings.

Bottom line -- the "Secretary In Charge of Everything" has spent most of his White House time working on side deals for the family business.

The whole damn thing is unprecedented.  How can we allow this?  The nepotism is clear, the brazen conflicts of interest are obvious, and the attitude is arrogant.  Jared Kushner must go.  He has no business being in the White House.  He's an entitled rich kid/brat who's dangerously untrustworthy in the public sphere.  Exactly like his father-in-law.

Mr. Mueller would like to have a chat with both of them.