Kushner’s just helping out a bro
by digby
Kushner is a grotesque monster:
Since the uproar over Mr. Khashoggi’s killing, the Trump administration has acknowledged only one conversation between Mr. Kushner and Prince Mohammed: an Oct. 10 telephone call joined by John R. Bolton, the national security adviser. The Americans “asked for more details and for the Saudi government to be transparent in the investigation process,” the White House said in a statement.
But American officials and a Saudi briefed on their conversations said that Mr. Kushner and Prince Mohammed have continued to chat informally. According to the Saudi, Mr. Kushner has offered the crown prince advice about how to weather the storm, urging him to resolve his conflicts around the region and avoid further embarrassments.
Few of the Saudi promises have amounted to much. The effectiveness of the counterterrorism center in Riyadh remains doubtful. After offering $50 billion in new weapons contracts, the Saudis have signed only letters of interest or intent without any firm deals. After proposing to marshal up to $100 billion in investments in American infrastructure, the Saudis have announced an investment of only $20 billion.
Inside the White House, Mr. Kushner has continued to argue that the president needs to stand by Prince Mohammed because he remains essential to the administration’s broader Middle East strategy, according to people familiar with the deliberations.
Whether Prince Mohammed can fulfill that role, however, remains to be seen. His initial approaches to the Palestinians were rejected by their leaders, and their resistance stiffened after the Trump administration recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital without waiting for a negotiated agreement on the city’s status.
Now the prince’s father, King Salman, 82, who is still the official head of state, has appeared to resist Mr. Kushner’s Middle East peace plans as well.
Maybe Kushner ought to be thinking a little bit more about how he’s going to weather his own storm. He’s right in the middle of this Mueller probe and there’s no DOJ guideline that says he can’t be indicted. If Trump pardons him, as he surely will, he will be tainted for the rest of his life as a criminal nonetheless.
Ivanka’s not safe either and whether or not any of them see the inside of a jail cell, they are done as far as polite society is concerned. Nobody will ever want to be seen with them again. They might want to think about moving to another country.
They could have avoided all of this by just staying in New York and staying out of the limelight while Trump behaved like an international wrecking crew. But they are as arrogant and stupid as he is and thought they were qualified to be at the center of power. Whether they pay a price for that remains to be seen but I have to believe that they are, at the very least, socially ruined, at least among any but far-right cranks.
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