Charles Kushner, convicted 20 years ago on sensational federal charges and pardoned four years ago by President Donald Trump, was confirmed tonight to be the new U.S. Ambassador to France.
The nomination of Kushner – a New Jersey real estate titan and the father of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner – proved to be a controversial one, with nearly every Democratic senator voting against his nomination. The lone Democrat to vote yes: Kushner’s home-state senator, Cory Booker.
Booker and Kushner have a relationship that goes back decades, dating to when Kushner provided financial support for Booker’s first unsuccessful run for mayor in 2002. When Kushner ran into legal trouble in 2004, Booker wrote a letter testifying to his character; the senator later collaborated with the Kushner family during the first Trump administration on the First Step Act, a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill.
In a statement explaining his “yes” vote, Booker said that it was the collaboration on that landmark bill that convinced him to support Kushner’s nomination despite his disagreements with the new ambassador on other issues.
“The First Step Act was the result of a broad coalition of advocates, from a bipartisan group of Senators, to civil rights leaders, law enforcement, and other groups,” Booker said. “One of the most important was Charlie Kushner, whose experience in prison profoundly affected him and led him to be an advocate for needed reforms. Without his efforts, the bill wouldn’t have become law. In addition, on numerous occasions, on issues related to the incarcerated, the condemned, and those coming out of prison, he has worked with me to fight for those too often forgotten about by people in both parties.”
“I have passionate differences and disagreements with Charlie Kushner, but I supported his confirmation because he has been unrelenting in reforming our criminal justice system and has substantively helped achieve the liberation of thousands of people from unjust incarceration,” he continued.
(New Jersey’s other U.S. senator, Andy Kim, voted no on Kushner.)
Kushner, the son of Holocaust survivors and a native of Elizabeth, became hugely wealthy thanks to his real estate enterprise, and used some of his money to fund Democratic political campaigns. In 2004, Kushner pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission in relation to those donations – and, more shockingly, hiring a prostitute to ensnare his brother-in-law in retaliation for cooperating with federal investigators.
Those charges, for which Kushner was sentenced to two years in prison, loomed over Kushner’s Senate Foreign Relation Committee confirmation hearing earlier this month despite his 2020 pardon from Trump.
“I don’t sit here before you today and tell you I’m a perfect person,” Kushner said under questioning from the committee’s top Democrat, Jeanne Shaheen. “I am not a perfect person. I made a very, very, very serious mistake, and I paid a very heavy price for that mistake… I think that my past mistakes actually make me better with my judgment, better in my view of life, better in my values to really make me more qualified to do this job.”
Most of the hearing, however, focused on Kushner’s policy views and his goals for the ambassadorship to America’s oldest ally.
“I believe that by fostering a more balanced trade relationship, pressing for more French defense investment and spending, and promoting historical education, we can create a more secure and prosperous future for both our nations,” Kushner said.
This story was updated at 12:49 p.m. on May 20 with comment from Booker.
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