President Donald Trump has added another extended family member to his administration.
Charles Kushner, the father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, was confirmed as the U.S. ambassador to France and Monaco by a 51-45 vote in the U.S. Senate on Monday, May 19.
Sen. Cory Booker, from Kushner’s home state of New Jersey, was the sole Democratic supporter of the nomination, while Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski was the only Republican to oppose.
In 2005, Kushner pleaded guilty to 18 counts of illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, and witness tampering. The witness tampering charge came when Kushner admitted to retaliation against his brother-in-law, William Schulder, who was cooperating with federal investigators.
He plotted to hire a sex worker to seduce Schulder and have video evidence sent to his sister, Esther, Schulder’s wife. Chris Christie, then the U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, has called the case “one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes” he’d prosecuted.
Kusher was sentenced to two years in prison. He served 14 months at a federal prison in Alabama and completed his sentence at a halfway house in Newark, N.J., until his release in August 2006. A graduate of Hofstra University School of Law, he was also disbarred and prohibited from practicing law in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania after becoming a convicted felon.
Kushner’s eldest son, Jared, married Ivanka Trump in October 2009, and they share three children. Jared served as a senior White House adviser during President Trump’s first term in office. At the end of that term, Jared’s father received a federal pardon.
President Donald Trump, flanked by son-in-law Jared Kushner, speaks in the Rose Garden on Oct. 1, 2018.
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty
During the elder Kushner’s recent confirmation hearing, he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that he believed his criminal history made him even more prepared to serve as an ambassador.
“I think that my past mistakes actually make me better with my judgment, better in my view of life, better in my values to really make me more qualified to do this job,” he explained. “I made a very, very, very serious mistake, and I paid a heavy price for that mistake.”
In his testimony, he promised to strengthen the “defense relationship” between the U.S. and France, ensure that trade between the two countries “revitalizes American industry and drives economic growth,” and promote better Holocaust education.
U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner and President Donald Trump.
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While he has the approval of the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate, Kushner may not be welcomed as warmly by fellow diplomats.
Following the news of his nomination in November, a former French ambassador to the U.S., Gérard Araud, lambasted the choice on X.
“I recommend reading his resume. ‘Juicy,’ as the Americans would say,” Araud wrote, in French. “Needless to say, he doesn’t have the slightest knowledge of our country.”
“At least he’ll have access to the president. We console ourselves as best we can,” Araud added.
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“Access to the president” is a common theme among Trump appointees. In his second term, the president has also appointed Massad Boulos, the father-in-law of his daughter, Tiffany Trump, as a senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern Affairs and a senior adviser on Africa.
Additionally, Kimberly Guilfoyle, the former fiancée of Donald Trump Jr., is currently awaiting her confirmation hearing after being nominated as Trump’s ambassador to Greece.