Jared Kushner: Trump’s Criminal-in-Law
Trump Hall of Shame — South Florida Media
Jared Kushner entered the White House not through election or merit, but through marriage. From the beginning, his presence in the West Wing raised alarms: a real estate heir with no diplomatic experience, suddenly tasked with brokering Middle East peace, solving the opioid crisis, and handling U.S.–China relations. But what he did with that power was far more dangerous than just incompetence. Kushner used proximity to the presidency to broker backchannel deals, enrich himself, shield foreign autocrats, and manipulate digital tools to sway American democracy.
He was not a policymaker. He was a profit-seeker. And in the end, the cost of his access may be counted not only in billions—but in lives.
How Jared Kushner Enabled Dictators and Cashed In
Kushner’s enabling wasn’t loud. It was backdoor, quiet, and systemic. From secret meetings with foreign despots to selling access to U.S. arms, he transformed the Trump administration into a transactional marketplace. In Saudi Arabia, he went further—allegedly handing a list of dissidents to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who then launched a campaign of arrests, torture, and murder, including the killing of U.S. journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Then, after shielding MBS from accountability, Kushner walked away with a $2 billion investment from the Saudi government. This wasn’t diplomacy. It was deferred payment.
What makes his actions so toxic is that he operated with complete impunity. There was no Senate confirmation, no real vetting, and no limits on what he could touch. And touch it he did: foreign policy, classified intelligence, U.S. weapons deals, and Trump’s digital campaign infrastructure.
Jared Kushner didn’t just ride Trump’s coattails. He monetized them on a global scale.
Selling Out American Intelligence to Saudi Arabia
Shortly after his secret meetings with MBS in 2017, Kushner allegedly handed over a list of “disloyal” Saudis—dissidents, business rivals, and royal family critics. According to reporting by The Intercept and The Washington Post, that information led directly to the Ritz-Carlton purge, where hundreds of Saudis were detained, tortured, and stripped of assets.
One year later, Khashoggi was murdered and dismembered by a Saudi hit team. U.S. intelligence confirmed MBS ordered the operation. Kushner did nothing to stop it—and reportedly maintained direct contact with the crown prince during the aftermath.
This wasn’t policy; it was complicity.
“In My Pocket”: How Kushner Became a Saudi Asset
In the fall of 2017, Jared Kushner flew to Saudi Arabia under the cover of secrecy. No press. No oversight. No official record of what was discussed. What followed was one of the most brazen examples of foreign manipulation in modern U.S. political history.
Shortly after Kushner’s private meetings with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), MBS launched a brutal crackdown, rounding up political rivals, royal family members, and prominent businessmen—many of whom were reportedly on a list of “disloyals” discussed during Kushner’s visit.
According to The Intercept, MBS later told confidants that Kushner was “in his pocket.” The message was unambiguous: the crown prince believed he had gained unprecedented, unfiltered access to one of the most powerful figures in the White House—and that Kushner was willing to deliver.
This wasn’t just a diplomatic misstep. It was a full-scale compromise of U.S. foreign policy. While intelligence agencies sounded alarms, Kushner downplayed Saudi abuses and continued to protect MBS from the fallout of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder and other human rights atrocities. In return, MBS overrode his own advisors to hand Kushner $2 billion in post-administration cash through Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.
The “in my pocket” moment wasn’t hyperbole. It was foreign influence in its rawest, most dangerous form—and Kushner handed it over willingly.
$2 Billion Payday After the Bloodshed
When Kushner left government, he didn’t go home empty-handed. He launched Affinity Partners, a private equity firm with zero track record. Just six months later, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund handed him $2 billion, despite internal objections from its own financial advisers.
The New York Times revealed that fund advisers warned against the deal, citing Kushner’s inexperience and the obvious appearance of corruption. But MBS pushed the investment through—overriding protocol to reward a man who protected him from international fallout.
Kushner didn’t just cash out. He got paid back.
Running Trump’s Digital Machine and Cutting Deals with Zuckerberg
Kushner was also the architect of Trump’s digital operation. He oversaw the Trump campaign’s data strategy, targeting voters using psychological profiling and algorithmic manipulation. According to Bloomberg and The New York Times, Kushner struck an informal deal with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to exempt Trump campaign ads from fact-checking—giving Trump’s team unchecked power to spread lies and conspiracy theories across the platform.
This was no accident. It was a tech handshake between billionaires that warped democracy in real-time.
Kushner’s Quiet Influence Campaign
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Backdoor deals with foreign leaders: Kushner routinely bypassed official diplomatic channels, operating through private conversations with foreign officials, often excluding the State Department and intelligence community.
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Pushed billions in arms deals: While MBS was overseeing mass civilian deaths in Yemen, Kushner helped approve arms shipments, claiming it would create American jobs. In reality, it prolonged a humanitarian crisis and built goodwill for his future Saudi payday.
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Pitched a hollow Middle East peace plan: His “deal of the century” offered no real path for Palestinian statehood, was crafted without Palestinian input, and was immediately dismissed by most regional leaders and international observers.
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No accountability: Despite glaring conflicts of interest, Kushner faced no prosecution, no indictments, and no meaningful investigations—only praise from Trump and a lucrative path into private capital management.
Legal Exposure vs. Moral Collapse
Kushner, unlike others in Trump’s inner circle, currently faces no criminal charges. But that doesn’t absolve him. His actions helped entrench an era of pay-for-play politics, foreign interference, and digital disinformation—all while pretending to serve the American people.
His role in handing sensitive intelligence to an autocrat who ordered the murder of a U.S.-based journalist is not just unethical—it’s a national disgrace. The fact that he was then rewarded with billions in Saudi funding should haunt every policymaker who let him operate unchecked.
Kushner’s decisions didn’t just compromise national security. They undermined democracy and normalized a foreign influence model that future administrations may struggle to unwind.
The True Cost of Kushner’s Shadow Diplomacy
When the son-in-law of a president uses the White House to secure personal wealth from autocrats, what’s left of the republic?
Jared Kushner’s legacy is not peace in the Middle East. It’s impunity in plain sight. He proved that in Trump’s White House, access was for sale, foreign powers were customers, and family connections came before the country. He may not have shouted MAGA from the podium, but in every corner of the globe where American power was for rent, Kushner was there with a handshake and a spreadsheet.
This isn’t just corruption. It’s systemic rot.
Recap
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Helped MBS identify and target Saudi dissidents
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Turned over intel that contributed to mass detentions and torture
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Maintained close ties after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi
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Brokered arms deals while Saudis waged war in Yemen
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Received $2 billion in Saudi investment after leaving office
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Ran Trump’s digital campaign and cut an anti-fact-check deal with Facebook
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Orchestrated a failed peace plan that sidelined Palestinians
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Never faced prosecution or formal inquiry
