If reports in the Intercept are true and Jared Kushner’s father, Charles, did indeed seek financing from the Qatari government, Charles deserves a new title.
King of the swamp.
According to the Intercept, Charles Kushner held meetings with Qatari finance minister, Ali Sharif Al Emadi in April 2017 in pursuit of investment funding for a New York City property owned by the former. If true, this action would represent a stellar example of the swamp-like behavior Trump railed against in his 2016 presidential campaign.
To do what he did, the elder Kushner is either a complete idiot or a highly calculating and morally defective individual. Consider that Jared’s father should have known that the Qataris would associate whatever they were doing with him to U.S. policy from the White House. The simple fact is that Qatar is a Sunni-Arab kingdom in which economic and political relationships are symbiotic. The Qataris do not see this as corruption, but rather as the way of things: the means of patronage in return for political power.
Anyone who works in high-level international business is aware of this reality.
In the same vein, Charles Kushner should have been aware that any funding he received would come with expectations of influence towards the White House.
And that speaks to the broader issue of patriotism and foreign policy.
After all, Qatar’s links to terrorist funding were well known and had been widely reported on prior to these meetings taking place. One might have thought that Charles would wish to avoid proximity with prospective terrorist financiers for his son’s sake alone. That he did not, indicates a profound arrogance. Yet take morality aside for a second and ask why Charles wasn’t concerned about what Qatari investment links might mean for his own corporate brand?
At best it’s the swamp, at worse it’s flirtation with pay-to-play political influencing.
And people wonder why Jared can’t get a security clearance?
