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An ethics organization is calling out presidential son-in-law and White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner for his conflicts of interest that could influence American domestic and foreign policy.
Kushner is on the receiving end of a scathing ethics complaint by liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. CREW filed the complaint Thursday with the Office of Government Ethics, saying Kushner failed to disclose ownership of an online real estate investment company.
The company, Cadre, was cofounded by Kushner in 2014 and counts Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and billionaire political influencers George Soros and Peter Thiel among its investors. The Wall Street Journal first reported on Kushner’s ties to the company in May.
“Kushner’s failure to disclose his ownership in Cadre is very troubling,” CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said in a press release. “It appears to be one of his larger investments, not something he could easily overlook, and it is impossible to ensure that senior government officials are behaving ethically if they fail to disclose key assets.”
According to the complaint, Kushner continues to own a significant portion of the $800 million real estate company and failed to disclose this ownership in his public financial statements.
The complaint was filed with the Office of Government Ethics, the federal agency charged with ensuring the executive branch complies with ethics rules. But when it comes to actually enforcing those rules, the agency’s hands are largely tied. It can order the White House to discipline Kushner. But the ultimate responsibility for making sure that ethics rules are followed lies with President Donald Trump himself.
You can read the full ethics complaint here.
