No other Democrat senator supported convicted felon Charles Kushner for a top diplomatic role.

  • barnaclebutt@lemmy.world
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    12 hours ago

    What was the point of all of that filibustering, if he was just going to act like a corrupt douchebag? These dudes are always slimy. Didn’t he save someone from a burning house and date Rosario Dawson? What a waste. I would be surprised if he was even straight at this point.

    • minorkeys@lemmy.world
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      9 hours ago

      It was a performative spectacle to get his name in the news. Few of our elected officials have any actual skillset for good governance. They have a skillset for getting elected.

    • Sweetpeaches69@lemmy.world
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      12 hours ago

      The point was to distract. There was an investigation into him being published at the same time. Booker only cares about himself.

  • wetbeardhairs@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    13 hours ago

    Wow I’m surprised this hasn’t been scrubbed yet.

    03-04-05 – Kushner, Charles – Sentencing – News Release

    Political Contributor and Developer Charles Kushner Sentenced to Maximum 24 Months for Witness Retaliation and Other Crimes

    NEWARK - Real estate developer and political contributor Charles Kushner was sentenced today to 24 months in prison for his pleas of guilty to assisting in the filing of false tax returns, retaliating against a cooperating witness and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

    Calling Kushner’s crime “disgraceful and reprehensible,” U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares sentenced Kushner to the top of the eligible range - 18 to 24 months - under the his plea agreement with the government.

    “The court of law was the great equalizer for Mr. Kushner, who had obviously convinced himself that his power, influence and immense wealth put him above the law,” Christie said. “We are very pleased that justice was done.”

    Judge Linares ordered Kushner, 50, of Livingston, to surrender to the federal Bureau of Prisons by May 9 to begin serving his sentence. Judge Linares also fined Kushner $40,000, the maximum amount as determined under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.

    On Aug. 18, Kushner pleaded guilty to 16 counts of assisting in the filing of false tax returns, one count of retaliating against a cooperating witness and one count of making false statements to the FEC.

    Kushner admitted then that, as chairman of Kushner Companies, he assisted in filing false tax returns claiming over $1 million in partnership charitable contributions as office expenses, causing losses to the IRS of between $200,000 and $325,000.

    Kushner further admitted at his plea hearing that he devised a scheme to retaliate against a cooperating witness - his sister - and her husband by having a prostitute seduce the husband and covertly filming them having sex. Kushner admitted that he paid a private investigator $25,000 to arrange for the seduction and videotaping of the cooperating witness’ husband. Kushner admitted to personally recruiting the prostitute and instructing that the videotape be mailed to the cooperating witness.

    Kushner also admitted to making false statements to the Federal Election Commission which allocated campaign contributions to certain individuals who had no knowledge that contributions were being made in their names and had not consented to him making the contributions.

    Christie credited Special Agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Joseph Billy, Jr.; and Special Agents of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation section, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Patricia J. Haynes.

    The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott Resnik and Thomas Eicher of the Special Prosecutions Division.

    • end -

    Defense Counsel:

    Benjamin Brafman, Esq. New York, NY

    Alfred DeCotiis, Esq. Teaneck, NJ

    Jeffrey Smith, Esq. Teaneck, NJ

  • crusa187@lemmy.ml
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    14 hours ago

    Booker once again proving to us how much of a fake progressive he was. He’s probably getting a good laugh out of this vote over lunch with Fetterman today.

  • Boddhisatva@lemmy.world
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    16 hours ago

    Kushner did a lot worse than lying to the FEC and tax evasion. Charles Kushner was pardoned by Trump for those back in 2020 but he admitted to a lot worse during the plea deal. This guy is absolute scum.

    Real estate developer and political contributor Charles Kushner was sentenced today to 24 months in prison for his pleas of guilty to assisting in the filing of false tax returns, retaliating against a cooperating witness and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

    Kushner further admitted at his plea hearing that he devised a scheme to retaliate against a cooperating witness - his sister - and her husband by having a prostitute seduce the husband and covertly filming them having sex. Kushner admitted that he paid a private investigator $25,000 to arrange for the seduction and videotaping of the cooperating witness’ husband. Kushner admitted to personally recruiting the prostitute and instructing that the videotape be mailed to the cooperating witness.

  • pelespirit@sh.itjust.works
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    16 hours ago

    His sincerity has been lacking for awhile now. This kind of puts the final nail in. There is no reason in the world that would be okay that he approved this guy, other than he hit the wrong button by mistake.

    Booker, who has been touted as a potential 2028 presidential candidate following his mammoth 25-hour speech criticizing Trump, has come under fire for siding with Republicans to confirm a man the president pardoned for crimes including tax evasion and lying to the Federal Election Commission.

    • RampageDon@lemm.ee
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      16 hours ago

      He was always in big pharms pocket. He just did a good job at tricking people who didn’t follow him closely because he makes himself very seen and vocal at rallies and protests that aren’t against people who line his pockets.

      • RowRowRowYourBot@sh.itjust.works
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        16 hours ago

        Big pharma is tied to 6% of all the jobs in NJ the state he represents. Why wouldnt he represent the interests of his electorate?

        • pelespirit@sh.itjust.works
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          15 hours ago

          That’s not representing the people, that’s representing the corporations that are bribing(?), extorting(?) him to vote that way.

          • RowRowRowYourBot@sh.itjust.works
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            15 hours ago

            No, that is representing the people. Believe it or not but the people who work for big Pharma tend to want their companies to continue to exist and fir their work to continue.

            Do you really need me to explain to you why an industry that employs 1 in 20 people might be important to the state overall? Do you not get how connected you are economically to others in your state?

            • pelespirit@sh.itjust.works
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              13 hours ago

              So what you’re telling me is, it’s okay to sacrifice the rest of the country for your own state. Let’s also know for a fact that pharma would pick up and leave if it was feasibly possible because it was cheaper, no matter how he votes.

              • RowRowRowYourBot@sh.itjust.works
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                13 hours ago

                You might be surprised to find out Senators only represent their state and not the nation as a whole.

                Pharma requires a ton of infrastructure there isn’t another place for it to move to.

                • Madzielle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                  13 hours ago

                  So I understand you likely are against any universal healthcare in our country? Because of jobs?

                  There’s always more healthcare staff needed everywhere, maybe if education and trainings for those jobs wasn’t so expensive…

                  Not every person in New Jersey works for big pharma. There are other folks too, Booker should be representing all of them, not just the ones who pay him off.

            • ExtantHuman@lemm.ee
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              13 hours ago

              Representing the people is representing the people.

              Representing the interests of the mega corps that is trying to extract labor from that populace while also overcharging for their product is not representing those people that perform the labor and but the product.

              This is not complicated

              • RowRowRowYourBot@sh.itjust.works
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                13 hours ago

                “This is not complicated”

                And yet you still manage to be completely incorrect about how the system works IRL. The interests of the people who work at those businesses and those businesses’ interests frequently align.

                For example I want it to be easier and cheaper to import booze because I work for an importer and it would be better for me if the business had more cash on hand. People who work for big pharma are not going to be any different.

                When you have a career you are invested in you tend to want to keep doing it. You might understand if you find yourself in a similar position.

                • ExtantHuman@lemm.ee
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                  13 hours ago

                  They sometimes overlap.

                  They also often conflict.

                  You’re acting like they are always in lockstep

  • mhague@lemmy.world
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    10 hours ago

    Republican nepotism.

    50 / 51 Republicans voting yes.

    44 / 45 Democrats voting no.

    “Democrats are bad.” “It’s the ratchet effect.” “They’re all against us.”

    • Vanilla_PuddinFudge@infosec.pub
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      10 hours ago

      Dems care about us!

      They just hate Trump as much as we do.

      Reminder that neither Biden nor Kamala said no to Israel. If they aren’t enemies, they’re at least self-serving cowards. Biden didn’t use his immunity to bolster the middle class, he used it on his own family and half-ass some debt forgiveness.

      They lost two elections because they ignored wealth inequality and labor unions in favor of virtue signalling and petty culture wars that all failed (woooooke!).

      All I see are two enemies fighting it out. Fuck em both. America deserves better.

  • Kühlschrank@lemmy.world
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    14 hours ago

    The only thing worse than Booker’s ill-conceived vote is that Dem leadership is so failed at this point it can’t get everyone on the same page, ever.

  • ThePantser@sh.itjust.works
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    16 hours ago

    Let me just throw out all at once these idioms about this guy.

    All talk and no action

    All sizzle and no steak

    All foam and no beer

    All glitter and no gold

    All tail and no cock

    All fart and no turd

    All broth and no beef

    All smoke and no fire

    All mask and no measure

    All rhyme and no rhythm

    All sound and no fury

    All squawk and no scratch

    All frank and no beans

    Stolen from a Google search.