JARED KUSHNER EGO

Jared Kushner Ego

D. S. Mitchell

A Changed Perception

In 2002, Elizabeth Spiers became the founding editor of Gawker.  Next Spiers became Editor in Chief of the N.Y. Observer, working for Jared Kushner, for 18 months, until 2012 when she resigned.  She is now a contributor to the Washington Post.  She tells us in a front page story for the Post that when she went to work for Kushner she believed he was interested in developing the newspaper and expanding it.  However, after less than two years Spiers, changed her view of Kushner’s mission and quit.

Past Experience

Kushner and associates tout his extensive business knowledge and experience.  He worked for his families real estate business.  No matter how big it was, it was not the size of the Pentagon, or the State Department. Spiers and I, both doubt that any skills Kushner learned in private business are transferable to public service. Jared Kushner ran a firm he inherited. That in itself is not necessarily an uncommon situation. However, the New York City commercial real estate realm is both “dynastic and insular” and in no way appears to build skills that are easily carried to government service.

Inherited Wealth

Spiers stated, “He (Kushner) was sure he had the goods.  I am unsure if he had a realistic view of is own capabilities, since like his father-in-law, he seemed to view his wealth and its concomitant accoutrements as rewards for his personal success in business, and not something he would have had in any case, by virtue of inheritance.  He appeared to view his position and net worth as the products of an essentially meritocratic process.”

Heavily Leveraged

As of interest, in 2007, The Kushner Co., was involved in the purchase of a commercial building in Manhattan.  The purchase was the most expensive in Manhattan real estate history.  The precarious financing allowed the deal to close, but it could have fallen apart at any time.  If the sale had collapsed, it probably would have destroyed the family fortune. That building is heavily in debt now.  49.5% of the building is owned by the real estate firm, Vornado.  Vornado wants out.  It appeared that the building had been purchased by the Chinese insurance giant, Anbang, but reports show the deal has fallen apart.  Some professionals would argue that Kushner paid too much for the building.  But, Kushner is not the only guy to make a living using vast amounts of debt to buy Class A properties in New York City, and elsewhere.

Vanity Project

The Office of American Innovation, that was created for Jared Kushner to head “is nothing more than a vanity project,” according to Spiers. The main aim is to put Kushner in the same room with people he admires; or can use, in future money-making ventures, or money borrowing situations.  This office will offer Kushner access to people, political and private individuals, American and foreign that he didn’t have before.

No Disguising It

It is a pathetic glossing over of what Kushner and the President want to do with the office of the American presidency and the Office of American Innovation. Personal enrichment. This has nothing to do with Kushner’s knowledge and ability, which isn’t just low, but nonexistent. Not everything you do in private enterprise transfers to government. This is about currying relationships.  Pay for play is the name. And it is definitely, illegal.

Keep It In The Family

“Naming family members to official administrative jobs is fraught with ethical land mines and legal hurdles,” said Mathew Dalleck. There were four notable and controversial relatives appointed to jobs in the White House in other administrations; Eleanor Roosevelt, John Eisenhower, Robert F. Kennedy and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Often what seems like a good idea at the time is a recipe for controversy.

Risky Appointments

Trump and Kushner seem to be totally oblivious to what they are walking into. The real problem confronting Kushner and the President is that the politics of nepotism is highly combustible. Kushner will refuse a salary, so he does not fall under the 1967 anti-nepotism law. That does not mean that media coverage, political polarization, new emphasis on transparency by government officials will vanish. These family appointments are risky to say the least, and they will come under intense scrutiny.

Loyalty Matters

Kushner has no record of public service to measure his accomplishments against. He is like the rest of the White House staff. They are there because of their loyalty to the president. Reportedly, Kushner is capable of “curbing Trump’s worst instincts, helping Trump navigate his myriad of self-inflicted crises,” Dalleck wrote.

Ethical Dilemma

Finally, Spiers said, so beautifully, “I worked with Jared Kushner. He’s the wrong businessman to reinvent government.” The ethical dilemmas surrounding Jared’s appointment and Ivanka’s new White House position, are substantial. The haphazard disentanglement from their business holdings and financial connections with foreign governments and corporations has not been adequate for close investigation.

Activism Required

If you are feeling the call of political activism, don’t hold back. Donate time. Donate money. The Progressive cause needs all the grass-roots help we can get. Make your political voice heard, and your political power felt. The 2018 election is closer than you think. There are more liberals in this country than there are conservatives. We have allowed the Republicans to Gerrymander the states into a weird maze of nonsensical political fiefdoms.  We can alter the partisan dominance of the Republican Party.

If we can flip several Republican states to Democratic states, we might be able to make some very important redistricting changes at the state level that will impact elections for at least a decade into the future.

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