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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsKushner's Charmed Life Comes to Screeching Halt
May 29, 2017 By Taegan Goddard
Walter Shapiro: Even under the benign theory that Kushner thought that a secret back channel was like a small boys tin-can telephone, his life in the coming months and maybe years will be a study in misery. He will probably spend more time with his personal lawyer, Clinton Justice Department veteran Jamie Gorelick, than with Ivanka or his children. Whether it is an appearance under oath on Capitol Hill or the inevitable FBI interview, every sentence Kushner utters will bring with it possible legal jeopardy.
Kushner may have once thought that he established his tough-guy credentials when he stared down angry creditors and impatient bankers over his ill-timed 2007 purchase of a $1.8bn Fifth Avenue office building. But the worst thing that can happen to an over-leveraged real-estate investor (as Trump himself knows well) is bankruptcy. When the FBI and special prosecutor Robert Mueller get involved, the penalties can theoretically involve steel bars locking behind you.
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https://politicalwire.com/2017/05/29/kushners-charmed-life-comes-screeching-halt/
MineralMan
(146,288 posts)has exposed its dirty underbelly to close inspection. All kinds of detritus and noxious waste has accumulated there, and will now be examined in minute detail by law enforcement officials.
This is the risk they took in stepping into the public sector. I hope they have a long time in which to regret that decision.
SHRED
(28,136 posts)dalton99a
(81,484 posts)CakeGrrl
(10,611 posts)really was the motivation for him to run, then the last laugh, as usual, goes to President Obama.
ODS gets you nowhere good.
Cha
(297,196 posts)President Obama was joking about trump's stupid on birtherism which was a damn lie.. I want them all to go down in flames for their lies to the American People.
Mme. Defarge
(8,028 posts)if Putin and his henchmen were propping them up financially in a quid pro quo cum "offer they couldn't refuse" arrangement with global implications. Commit treason or go down in financial ruin is the way I interpret the situation.
erronis
(15,241 posts)Pute owns the WH and maybe much of congress. Not sure his reach doesn't extend to the non-'uglicans.
Barack_America
(28,876 posts)Wounded Bear
(58,649 posts)and that it would help him paper over the family's worst offenses.
Instead, it will hopefully expose the whole rotten mess to public scrutiny and ruin them financially.
Hey, a guy can dream, right:
MineralMan
(146,288 posts)if he ever was one. In 2017, he's an old, tired rich guy with a failing memory and no stamina. He's in way, way over his head, and his family isn't smart enough to help him compensate. In fact, they're making things worse.
It would be comedic if it were not so dangerous.
Hekate
(90,674 posts)not fooled
(5,801 posts)and it's telling--now that these rats are beginning to be cornered--that their first impulses are to respond by more lying and criminality, via threats and obfuscation, i.e. they think they can evade consequences for bad behavior by more bad behavior. You just know they have shredders and IT henchmen trying to erase their record of misconduct.
Fritz Walter
(4,291 posts)For those too young to remember, he pardoned Tricky-Dick Nixon for any-and-all crimes.
From Wikipedia: "In a televised broadcast to the nation, Ford, former Vice President to Nixon, explained that he felt the pardon was in the best interests of the country, and that the Nixon family's situation was 'a tragedy in which we all have played a part. It could go on and on and on, or someone must write the end to it. I have concluded that only I can do that, and if I can, I must.' "
The possibility that Mike Pence would do the EXACT SAME THING, for the EXACT same reasons -- and extend the same full-and-unconditional-pardon to Jared et al. -- would completely subvert the justice system, legislative investigations and actions (laws), and ultimately leave us vulnerable to future election-tampering by Putin and his bots.
It's no exaggeration to say this would be the end of civilization as we know it.
On this Memorial Day, I cannot believe this is what true patriots fought and died to protect!
flibbitygiblets
(7,220 posts)The collective national anger at not getting justice for these alleged crimes could be parlayed into bipartisan calls for tighter election safeguards from OUTSIDE the US, (which should have the added benefit of finally exposing the ridiculousness of GOP claims that election fraud comes from inside this country vis-a-vis individual voters).
Other possible silver linings in this fiasco could include mandatory tax refund sharing (remember another history lesson from the Nixon admin was Nixon's failure to pay taxes, which resulted in it being simply a "norm" for candidates to report their tax returns). Most people don't remember that, and sharing of candidates' tax returns needs to be mandatory now that we have such clear proof of WHY it is needed.
And then there's the issue of "leaks" being good or bad, and what to do about them. Yes, they are not ideal and could be damaging if done for the wrong reasons (i.e., political gain), as opposed to what we're seeing here, which is exposing a corrupt, inept and probably treasonous administration. There need to be safeguards in place that ensure that situations such as we're witnessing now are dealt with swiftly, and not subjected to the whims of whatever party happens to be holding the most votes.
Probably a lot more I'm not even thinking of yet.
Wounded Bear
(58,649 posts)Wounded Bear
(58,649 posts)Eyeball_Kid
(7,431 posts)the best friend of the criminal investigator.
MineralMan
(146,288 posts)Hekate
(90,674 posts)...with money conned from gullible marks.
not fooled
(5,801 posts)Karma would be for them to suffer--from the greater scrutiny of their shady practices and outright law-breaking--to the same extent that they are attempting to inflict misery on the majority of Americans.
And, that their family names become universally reviled and that they go down in history under a dark cloud of scandal, misconduct, and convictions.
Snarkoleptic
(5,997 posts)leftstreet
(36,107 posts)I've never seen a guy with such spiffily coiffed eyebrows
Hekate
(90,674 posts)japple
(9,824 posts)father-in-law. tRUMP's brows are in need of an intervention.
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)erronis
(15,241 posts)dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)karynnj
(59,503 posts)their staff as people. The full Guardian article available from the link (his name) has an observation that made me see the current mess a bit more humanly.
I have no sympathy for Jared Kushner, whose actions as head of a company that went after poor people to get money that they did NOT even owe him, are not "charmed" at all - not to mention, his privileged life had already been disrupted by the arrest, conviction and jail term of his dad. The "charm" of his being both Trump's right hand man and the "Ken" to Ivanka's "Barbie" is really pretty shallow.
However, one paragraph he wrote, speaking of our side of the partisan divide, did make me see that many people, who may not be totally evil, will check their conscience too late and will drown in the torrents of these scandals.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/may/29/jared-kushner-charmed-life-screeching-halt
The big difference is where Whitewater was exaggerated, I suspect we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg on Trump's scandals.
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)"Hired gun," also.
Madam45for2923
(7,178 posts)Scurrilous
(38,687 posts)Seasider
(169 posts)Had to back to 2009. The good news is that he sounds a lot smarter than his father-law-law. But he just seems like your typical toddler CEO who thinks he's being innovative.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)Ok..complete sentences, buzzwords, able to forward thoughts in his speech, obviously used to public speaking.
So far, wayyy ahead of his pa-in-law.
As far as his having good ideas, I have heard negative things said.
I have heard of his arrogant behavior and seeming lack of caring for employees.
I also can see why he can come across as smart, confident, until you get to know him better, and why Trumps does depend on him.
CanonRay
(14,101 posts)has already signed everyone's pardon and stuck them in a drawer.
lindysalsagal
(20,680 posts)Their greed, narcissism and lack of grounding and morality will ultimately set them against each other. Liars, manipulators and thieves eventually eat their own.