As House Republicans, led by Representative James Comer (R-KY), continue their fixation on investigating Hunter Biden and probing President Joe Biden’s alleged involvement in his son’s business activities —a probe deemed by many as unproductive and politically motivated— former Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) drew attention to a more substantial corruption case involving Jared Kushner, former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
McCaskill, a former prosecutor, emphasized on MSNBC that Kushner’s questionable dealings far surpass any accusations made by the GOP against the Biden family. She expressed frustration with the lack of action regarding Kushner’s actions, saying: “What drives me crazy about this is the blinking red light around Jared Kushner. Why does the Senate not start hearings?”
She then delved into Kushner’s actions, highlighting his lack of experience in the vast responsibilities he was given within the government, particularly in foreign policy matters like the Middle East peace process. McCaskill pointed out Kushner’s close relationship with the Saudi crown prince, arranging Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia and hosting the crown prince in the White House.
She noted that Kushner started a private equity fund after Trump left office and solicited a two-billion-dollar investment from the Saudi crown prince. Despite the Saudi sovereign wealth fund’s committee raising concerns about the investment, the crown prince approved it.
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“Let’s just briefly walk through what Jared Kushner did. He was put in to run a huge portfolio in a government where he had no experience. Running foreign policy in the Middle East peace process. He has no experience. What does he do? First, he becomes best buddies with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. He gets Trump to go to Saudi Arabia for his first trip. Has the crown prince in the White House dining room. He does all that, and what happens the minute Trump leaves office? He starts, for the first time, a private equity fund. He goes over and asks the crown prince for two billion dollars,” said McCaskill.
“And you know what the committee said that runs the sovereign wealth fund for Saudi Arabia? … They said, this is a really bad idea. They did their due diligence and failed miserably in every test of due diligence. And management fees were excessive. They recommended against making a two billion dollar investment. Of course, the crown prince came along and overruled him, and gave Jared Kushner two billion dollars.”
McCaskill contrasted this with former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s similar attempts to secure investments in his firm from Saudi Arabia, yielding far less money and lower management fees.
“This is a huge scandal,” she said. “I do not understand why the Senate is not doing a hearing on all of the Trump grift. And I’m not even talking about the money they netted off foreign governments while they were in office.”
The former senator cautioned that the Democrats’ failure to adequately investigate Kushner in the Senate could shift the focus to Hunter Biden and divert attention from the questionable activities of the Trump family. She emphasized the need to clarify that Joe Biden’s actions were not wrong and to spotlight the ethical concerns surrounding the Trump family’s financial gains during and after their time in office.
The ‘Morning Joe’ panel also criticized GOP lawmakers for disproportionately concentrating on Hunter Biden’s controversies while overlooking substantial financial gains made by Trump’s family members while serving in the White House.
MSNBC host Joe Scarborough led the panel discussion, humorously contrasting the significance of Hunter Biden’s laptop with Jared Kushner’s multi-billion-dollar deal with the Saudis, implying the stark contrast between the two cases.
“Let’s see, $2 billion, laptop. I don’t think it’s the same,” he said.
Scarborough acknowledged the challenge of controlling family members’ actions but underscored the gravity of White House insiders profiting significantly from their positions, referencing Kushner’s substantial financial gain. He criticized Republicans for fixating on Hunter Biden while failing to scrutinize Trump’s children and in-laws who capitalized on their positions for personal financial gain, particularly through deals with Saudi Arabia and China. Scarborough coined the situation as “pay to play,” pointing out the ethical concerns arising from these actions.
“You know, you can’t control family members, and you want to, but you can’t,” he said. “And having somebody working inside the White House doing White House business and coming out the other side $2 billion richer. I mean, the comparison, again. I’m not talking about the governor [Trump critic Chris Christe who cited Kushner in a speech on Thursday] here so much as I’m talking about all the Republicans that are freaking out over Hunter Biden, when they don’t look at all the things Donald Trump’s children and in-laws got, who actually worked inside the White House,” he ranted.
“[They] got these sweetheart deals from Saudi Arabia and China while they were inside the White House, working inside the White House. Talk about pay to play,” remarked.
Watch the videos below from MSNBC.
Here’s Morning Joe’s take on the scandal:
