Reports that Kushner’s family members are using his position to solicit Chinese investors should be a tipping point.
Norman Eisen is the chairman of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and served as chief White House ethics lawyer for President Barack Obama. Noah Bookbinder is executive director of CREW and a former federal corruption prosecutor.
Coming on top of months of revelations of China-related conflicts involving President Trump and his relatives, reports that Jared Kushner’s family used his position to solicit Chinese investors were a tipping point. The president’s son-in-law and daughter Ivanka Trump should now broadly recuse themselves from working on China-related issues.
According to media reports, Kushner’s sister pitched a roomful of Chinese investors to participate in the EB-5 visa program and qualify for a path to U. S. citizenship by investing at least $500,000 in a New Jersey real estate project, Kushner 1. The proposal reportedly included dropping Jared Kushner’s name, alluding to his administration role and noting that the president will be a key decision-maker about the future of the controversial visa program. The implications were unmistakable; one Chinese investor who attended told a reporter that the Kushners’ proximity to the president was a key part of the project’s appeal.
This sales pitch is clearly unacceptable. The family business should not benefit from Jared Kushner’s name and position as assistant to the president. Moreover, while it’s not clear whether Kushner had any knowledge of or involvement in this conduct, he retains a financial interest in many family businesses. Thus, he stands to benefit when the company trades on his name. Kushner’s lawyers assert that he sold his interests in this particular project to a trust of which he is not a beneficiary — although we know of no reason he couldn’ t be reinstated as a beneficiary in the future.
Kushner and his wife have in the past said they will comply with all ethics rules. If so, as a starting point, Kushner must immediately take steps to ensure that businesses with which he is or has been associated refrain from using his position to promote investments. In fact, no Trump or Kushner companies should utilize the EB-5 program; the possibility for the appearance of improper influence, and perhaps worse, is too great.
