Kushner and Saudis: The Bromance Continues

As we see increasingly in court filings and from investigative reporting, the Trump crime family has continued their grifting habits long after the campaign for President. The Trump Tower Moscow deal is just the tip of the iceberg, and one worth examining for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act as well. The corrupt "don" of the crime family, sociopath and Kremlin puppet Donald "Rump" Trump, is benefiting from foreign entities spending large amounts of cash at his tacky hotels and resorts, the most recent, disgusting example of which was the Saudi government laundering money through a veterans group to Washington's Trump International Hotel and into Rump's pocket.

Speaking of the Saudis, whom Rump embraced during the campaign for buying tens of millions of his "toys" and condo properties, they've also got their talons in Rump's openly corrupt son-in-law, Jared "Mr. Ivanka Trump" Kushner. The notorious thug, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed "Bone Saw" bin Salman, bragged after he conducted a purge of his fellow princes in 2017 that Kushner was "in his pocket." Although Kushner's been advised not to speak with the Saudis or any other foreign party without a National Security Council member present, he's reported to be in regular contact with Prince Bone Saw, even after the U.S. intelligence community has said with high confidence that Bone Saw ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at their consulate in Istanbul on October 2:

"As the killing set off a firestorm around the world and American intelligence agencies concluded that it was ordered by Prince Mohammed, Mr. Kushner became the prince’s most important defender inside the White House, people familiar with its internal deliberations say.

Mr. Kushner’s support for Prince Mohammed in the moment of crisis is a striking demonstration of a singular bond that has helped draw President Trump into an embrace of Saudi Arabia as one of his most important international allies."  (our emphasis)

The article also notes the involvement of officials of the Saudi-allied United Arab Emirates (UAE) in promoting the relationship between Bone Saw and Kushner, aided by Rump confidant and slippery real estate investor Tom Barrack. But the key relationship, which Kushner has relied on for his star-crossed and naive adventure in Middle East diplomacy, is with Bone Saw. It didn't hurt that the Saudis indicated that weapons sales were on the table either, although,

"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."

 Is there something more than worthless promises from a corrupt regime? Would it surprise anyone that Kushner's been scouring the Middle East for sweetheart loans for himself and his family? After all, the Saudis and UAE threw $100 million in a fund supported by Ivanka Trump in 2017, so why believe that they haven't done the same -- but very privately-- for her husband, whose real estate business is precarious to say the least?  It's becoming clear that Special Counsel Mueller (and perhaps other prosecutors) has been looking at the finances of Kushner and may have some interesting, and incriminating, things to say in the weeks ahead.