Jared Kushner accused of giving classified intel to a foreign dictator which led to the torture of an American and the brutal murder of another.
Editor’s Note: Samuel Warde is the editor-in-chief of Liberals Unite (recently re-branded as The Art of Living) as well as a contributor to Mindy Fischer, Writer. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. You can view a list of his articles here.
Background: Trump orders top-level security clearance for Kushner
The New York Times reported last week that Trump ordered former chief of staff John Kelly to grant Kushner a top security clearance last year. In doing so, Trump overrode the concerns of intelligence officials, his White House counsel, and Kelly himself.
“It is not known precisely what factors led to the problems with Mr. Kushner’s security clearance,” The New York Times reported. “Officials had raised questions about his own and his family’s real estate business’s ties to foreign governments and investors, and about initially unreported contacts he had with foreigners.”
Reps. Ted Lieu (E-CA) and Don Beyer (D-VA) followed up on Monday by submitting a criminal referral to the Department of Justice.
“We are deeply disturbed by recent reports that President Trump ordered his Chief of Staff, John Kelly, to grant Jared Kushner a security clearance, overruling intelligence officials who raised concerns about the clear national security risks of doing so,” their letter to Attorney General William Barr began. “Taken together with previous reports that Mr. Kushner omitted contacts with more than one hundred foreign persons on his clearance forms – including the Russian Ambassador – we request that the Department of Justice open an immediate investigation to determine if Mr. Kushner is criminally liable for his false statements.”
.@RepDonBeyer & I have made a criminal referral of Jared Kushner to @TheJusticeDept.
Making false statements or omitting material info on SF-86 security form is punishable by up to 5 years in prison. More info at @politico huddle. Here's the letter: https://t.co/yq4H1zbhux.
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) March 5, 2019
Jared Kushner accused of complicity in the torture of an American and the death of another.
Former criminal investigator and criminal defense attorney, Seth Abramson, weighed in on the controversy with a stunning 7-part thread on Twitter.
Abramson began his analysis, tweeting: “If you think the problem is Trump overruled U.S. intelligence to give a family member top secret clearance, you should consider that that’s the problem plus the fact that that family member then gave classified intel to a foreign dictator which led to the torturing of an American.”
Continuing, Abramsom alleges that Kushner shared intelligence data with none other than Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (MbS), the powerful Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.
“Mohammed bin Salman told confidants that Kushner gave him intel on MbS’s domestic enemies—and in the massive, unprecedented, illegal roundup that quickly followed, bin Salman “arrested” and tortured an American, which now appears to be an event that can be laid at Kushner’s feet.”
The American Abramson is referring to hear is Harvard-trained physician Walid Fitaihi who holds is a dual citizen of Saudi Arabia and the United States.
The New York Times reported last week that Fitaihi told a friend that he was “slapped, blindfolded, stripped to his underwear and bound to a chair.” It was also reported that “he was shocked with electricity.”
The doctor had described the physical abuse, in general terms, to his relatives as well, a person close to them said. Detained in November 2017 in what was billed as a crackdown on corruption, Dr. Fitaihi, 54, remains imprisoned without any public charges or trial.
After some additional discussion, Abramson further implicated Kushner in the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul last year.
Abramson also discussed the possible implications of such conduct for both Kushner and Trump:
It’s time for America to ask itself what should happen to an American businessman who gives classified intelligence to an enemy of the United States for personal financial profit, even though he knows it will lead to the torture and murder of scores of people, including Americans.
My understanding is such an act is chargeable as Espionage, but I guess we’ll find out soon enough if that’s correct, as a result of investigations by Mueller and Congress…
And what do we do when the foreign dictator who Trump and his son-in-law gave classified intel to not only tortures a U.S. doctor but then *assassinates and dismembers* a Washington Post journalist and Trump orders his government to help cover it up? Does hugging a flag fix that?
You must be logged in to post a comment Login