Barbara Streisand recently took to Twitter to voice her frustration over the disparity in media coverage between the business dealings of Hunter Biden and the significant income earned by Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner while they were working in the White House. Streisand pointed out that “the press was obsessed with Hunter Biden” but there was “barely a word” about how Kushner and Ivanka made $82 million during their time as senior advisors to President Donald Trump. Her tweet has reignited discussions around the ethical implications of the Trump family’s business activities while they were in public office.
The $82 million figure Streisand referenced is part of a broader financial picture that raises serious ethical questions. According to a report by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), the couple earned between $172 million and $640 million during their White House tenure. They wrote HERE:
Just a month before her father was elected president, Russia renewed two trademarks for Ivanka Trump’s business. This would be the start of a pattern. In 2017, Ivanka’s business won preliminary approval for three Chinese trademarks on the same day that she dined with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago. In May 2018, Ivanka’s business was awarded “registration” approval from the Chinese government for five trademark applications, with an additional one getting “first trial approval.” The same week, President Trump announced he would try to save jobs at ZTE, the Chinese telecommunications giant closely tied to the government. A month later, Ivanka’s business got registration approval for three more Chinese trademarks, on the same day her father announced he’d lift sanctions against ZTE.
Ivanka’s business applied for Japanese trademarks the day after her father won the presidency. They were approved around the time of Mike Pence’s visit to Japan where he met with then-Prime Minister Abe. Ivanka also met with Abe, along with her father, about a week after her company applied for the trademarks. She won approval for additional Japanese trademarks in 2017.
In what would become the defining scandal of her time in office, in October 2018 Ivanka’s brand won 16 new trademarks from the Chinese government, including for voting machines. These approvals came about three months after Ivanka announced that her brand was shutting down, and mark the largest number of new Chinese trademarks she received in a single month during the Trump presidency. Six months after the company officially shut down, it received a new trademark to sell the Ivanka brand in Canada. In all, CREW found at least 28 foreign trademarks approved for Ivanka Trump while in the White House.
The press was obsessed with Hunter Biden. But barely a word about how Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump made 82 million dollars while working in the White House.
— Barbra Streisand (@BarbraStreisand) September 2, 2024
According to that research, their income was derived from various business ventures, including Ivanka’s ownership stake in the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., and Jared’s extensive real estate holdings. Despite their roles in the administration, which should have required their full attention, they continued to benefit financially from these ventures, creating potential conflicts of interest that have largely gone underreported compared to other political scandals.
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This disparity in media coverage is even more striking when considering the relentless Republican efforts to investigate Democratic figures over the years. For instance, the Benghazi hearings, which spanned several years, were originally intended to investigate the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate but quickly turned into a protracted investigation into Hillary Clinton’s role as Secretary of State. These hearings, which ultimately found no conclusive evidence of wrongdoing, are a stark contrast to the relatively muted response to the financial activities of Kushner and Ivanka Trump.
Republicans have also fixated on Hunter Biden, attempting to use his business dealings to cast doubt on President Joe Biden’s integrity. Yet, while Hunter Biden’s activities have been scrutinized extensively, the substantial income earned by Kushner and Ivanka during their time in the White House has not been subjected to the same level of investigation or media attention. This double standard becomes even more apparent when considering that, after leaving the White House, Jared Kushner secured a $2 billion investment from a Saudi sovereign wealth fund led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a deal that has raised significant ethical concerns due to Kushner’s close ties to the Saudi government during his time in office.
The scrutiny faced by Democrats compared to the relative silence on the issues surrounding Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner underscores the partisan nature of these investigations. While Republicans have not hesitated to launch exhaustive inquiries into Democratic figures, they have largely ignored or downplayed potential conflicts of interest and ethical breaches within their own ranks. This selective scrutiny erodes public trust and fuels the perception that these investigations are more about political gain than genuine accountability.
Streisand’s tweet serves as a stark reminder that the public deserves transparency and accountability from all public officials, regardless of their political affiliation. Whether it’s the business activities of Hunter Biden or the substantial earnings of Kushner and Ivanka Trump while serving in the White House, these issues warrant equal attention and rigorous investigation. The American people deserve a government that operates with integrity, free from the influence of personal financial gain.
While the media and lawmakers have been quick to focus on certain political figures, others have managed to avoid the same level of scrutiny. As Streisand points out, this imbalance in coverage not only reflects a partisan bias but also undermines the principles of fair and equal treatment that should be the cornerstone of American democracy. The question remains: Will these financial dealings ever receive the thorough investigation they deserve, or will they continue to be overshadowed by other political narratives?
Featured image via Political Tribune gallery.
