Law enforcement detains Jared Kushner financier amid accusations of money laundering
At this point it may be a contest to see whether Jared Kushner is taken down first by the crimes he’s committed in relation to the Donald Trump administration, or by his own financial misdeeds. At this hour one of Kushner’s most prominent financial bankrollers has been detained by law enforcement officials amid accusations of money laundering.
Beny Steinmetz has been detained by law enforcement in Israel, according to the New York Times (link). Steinmetz and his family have prominently bankrolled Kushner Companies, which is the real estate business run by Jared Kushner’s family. And so suddenly, a money laundering investigation is now just one step removed from Jared Kushner, a senior White House adviser with a high security clearance. As much of a liability as that may be for the United States, it means Kushner may be in serious and imminent trouble.
Regardless of whether or not Jared Kushner is involved in the alleged financial crimes committed by his bankroller Steinmetz, the key here is that Steinmetz surely knows Kushner’s finances inside and out. If Steinmetz ends up feeling pressured to begin giving other people up in order to save himself, he’ll end up coughing up every financial misdeed that Kushner has ever committed. We’ll see which way he ends up going with it. But the timing stands out as either suspicious or startlingly odd.
Just three days ago it was announced that Jared Kushner will be traveling to Israel on a strangely timed and obviously ill suited attempt at brokering Middle East peace (link). If this is a coincidence, it means Kushner now faces the ignominy of traveling to a nation that just snatched up his own bankroller for alleged financial crimes. And there will be others who will ask if perhaps Kushner had truly been planning to travel to Israel to meet with or assist Steinmetz.
