Associates of Trump And Kushner Reportedly Probed By DOJ In Alleged Pay-For-Pardon Scheme

Law and order!


583
583 points

A top Republican National Committee fundraiser and Jared Kushner’s lawyer are reportedly the targets of an FBI investigation into a quid pro quo scheme to obtain a pardon in exchange for potential hefty campaign donations. No individuals’ names were revealed in the highly redacted court documents unsealed on Tuesday that suggested that parties involved may have secretly lobbied senior White House officials for pardons in exchange for bribes.

According to the New York Times, it concerned efforts by the lawyer for presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner, Abbe Lowell, and RNC fund-raiser, Elliott Broidy, who pleaded guilty in October to a charge related to a different scheme to lobby the Trump administration. Well, that’s pretty swampy.

The news outlet notes that Sanford Diller, a San Francisco real estate developer, linked up with Lowell and Broidy to gain access into Trump’s administration to secure a pardon.

A billionaire San Francisco real estate developer, Sanford Diller, enlisted their help in securing clemency for a Berkeley psychologist, Hugh L. Baras, who had received a 30-month prison sentence on a conviction of tax evasion and improperly claiming Social Security benefits, according to the filing and the people familiar with the case. Under the suspected scheme, Mr. Diller would make ‘a substantial political contribution’ to an unspecified recipient in exchange for the pardon. He died in February 2018, and there is no evidence that the effort continued after his death.

As for Broidy, he helped raise money for Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, and after the election, he became a top fund-raising official for Trump’s inauguration and the Republican National Committee. Broidy was also a member of Mar-a-Lago.

On Tuesday, Trump called the investigation “fake news.”

The New York Times report comes amid reports that Trump is considering going on a pre-emptive pardon spree before he leaves office in January. According to reports, Trump is considering pardoning three of his children: Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Ivanka Trump, along with Ivanka’s husband, Jared Kushner, and Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.

However, even if Trump pardons his spawn, and possibly himself, that won’t protect him or his family members from state charges. And this guy thinks he deserves four more years in office.

You can read the full report here.

Featured image via Presidencia de la República Mexicana/Flickr, under Creative Commons license 2.0

Can’t get enough Political Tribune? Follow us on Twitter!

Looking for more video content? Subscribe to our channel on YouTube!


Like it? Share with your friends!

583
583 points

Comments