Jared Kushner’s father, real estate magnate Charles Kushner, slammed federal ethics watchdogs who have been hounding him and his son, calling them “jerks” who can’t get a “real job.”
He also insisted the watchdogs keep “rich, smart, successful people” out of government jobs.
“All they want to do is assure that poor, not successful people go into government,” Charles Kushner told The Real Deal in an interview published Friday. “Because if you’re successful, you shouldn’t be penalized by stupid ethics watchdogs raising things that are potential.”
He went on to complain about attacks and the “barrage of negative media” against his son, despite the “sacrifice” Jared Kushner has made as a public servant.
“I look at what my kids have sacrificed to go into government, with the only intent of doing good for this country and for the world, and to help people,” he said, apparently referring to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, according to the Real Deal. “They sacrificed a lot.”
Charles Kushner has been drawn into conflict-of-interest investigations as his son continues to collect profits from the family real estate operations in the United States and abroad while working as a senior White House adviser.
Contacts either cultivated by Jared Kushner or those who may want to curry favor with the Trump administration have loaned critical funds to Kushner Companies’ projects since Jared Kushner’s father-in-law, President Donald Trump, has been in office.
Just last week, as the Trump administration continued to hammer out details for the North Korean summit, two South Korean financial firms — Nonghyup Bank and trusts linked to IGIS Asset Management — bought $100 million of debt on a residential building that’s partially owned by the Kushner family in the Trump Bay Street complex in New Jersey, Bloomberg reported. Jared Kushner still has a stake in the property, according to Bloomberg.
The family businesses have received hundreds of millions in loans from major Israeli financial firms even as Jared Kushner is charged with forging a balanced peace in the Middle East. The Kushners were also criticized early last year for attempting to woo Chinese investments for projects by highlighting Jared Kushner’s ties to the White House.
Three months after Trump’s inauguration, Charles Kushner also pressed a Qatari official for a $500 million loan from a government-controlled investment fund, The Intercept reported. Charles Kushner later confirmed to The Washington Post that he attended a meeting with the official but would not have accepted funds. Weeks after Qatar reportedly refused to provide a loan, Jared Kushner backed a puzzling blockade against the nation enacted by Saudi Arabia.
Charles Kushner was sentenced to two years in federal prison in 2005 for tax evasion, campaign finance violations and witness tampering for hiring a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law — who was cooperating investigators — so he could send a recording to his sister, the man’s wife.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story indicated that Charles Kushner tried to get a loan from a Qatari official for $500,000. The loan sought was for $500 million.