Jared Kushner’s billionaire real estate developer father calls ethics watchdogs ‘jerks’

Jared Kushner’s father has called ethics watchdogs ‘jerks’ and insisted that they just want ‘poor, not successful people go into government’.

Charles Kushner, 64, spoke out in a wide ranging interview with real estate trade publication The Real Deal, defending his son and himself against any allegations of impropriety. 

‘Are you guys going to be a**holes today, or are you going to give us a fair shake? Because you’ve been a**holes in the past,’ he asked the two reporters to kick off the interview in 666 Fifth Avenue, the family’s debt-saddled marquee property.

Charles Kushner’s remarks on ethics watchdogs came as the interviewers asked him whether his son Jared should have taken further steps to divest from the family business before joining the administration of his father-in-law, President Donald Trump. 

Charles Kushner (left) is seen with son Jared in 2012. The elder Kushner called ethics watchdogs ‘jerks’ and said that they just want ‘poor, not successful people go into government’

‘Do you really want to know what I think about those jerks?,’ Kushner asked about ethics watchdogs. ‘I think they’re a waste of time. They’re guys who can’t get a real job, ethics watchdog? Who gets a job – ethics watchdog? Give me a break.’

He continued: ‘All they want to do is assure that poor, not successful people go into government. That’s all they want to do. Because if you’re successful, you shouldn’t be penalized by stupid ethics watchdogs raising things that are potential. You know when there’s a conflict.’

In 2005, Charles Kushner pleaded guilty to 18 of illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, and witness tampering, and served 14 months in prison.

The witness tampering charge related to a scheme in which Charles Kushner had his brother-in-law taped while having sex with a prostitute for blackmail purposes. 

The real estate mogul insisted that he had nothing to hide from investigators, however, and blasted recent probes into his business as politically motivated by anti-Trump forces. 

The interview took place in 666 Fifth Avenue, the family's debt-saddled marquee property

The interview took place in 666 Fifth Avenue, the family’s debt-saddled marquee property

‘They discourage rich, smart, successful people from going into government,’ he said of the ethics watchdogs. ‘Because a lot of rich, smart, successful people say, “Why the hell am I doing this?” 

‘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. And what they have sacrificed, and the daily barrage of negative media, and the attacks they get, and they had a perfect, beautiful life and they still have a very good life, but they sacrificed a lot.’

Charles Kushner also brushed aside author Michael Wolff’s claim that he’d lobbied to have FBI Director Jim Comey fired over federal investigators getting too close to his business.

‘Do I look like a guy who doesn’t have enough problems that I have to go and get involved with James Comey? It’s just f**king nonsense. It’s totally false. Made up. Totally,’ he said.

‘I lose sleep about a lot of things. I lose sleep that my children should be healthy, that my grandchildren should be healthy, that everybody should be well.

I don’t lose one second of sleep about these stupid investigations because they are stupid investigations. They could waste as much time and taxpayer money as they want, but it’s all politically motivated. And we’re, thank God, big enough and strong enough to deal with it. We’ll give them the papers, so I do not lose one second of sleep. I don’t think about it one second of the day.’

 



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