In what promises to be a spectacular turn of events in federal court, two Democratic members of Congress sent a letter to the Department of Justice referring Jared Kushner — son-in-law and advisor to President Trump — for criminal prosecution over his lies regarding the forms he filled out, then revised again and again in pursuit of a top-level security clearance.
At issue is the fact that Kushner failed time and again to report numerous meetings he had with foreign officials, clearly indicating deliberate omissions, just judging by the number of revisions to his SF-86 Questionnaire for National Security Positions. Those omissions included meetings he had with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, heads of Russian banks, and most especially the Trump Tower meeting he attended along with Donald Trump, Jr. in which Kremlin lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya promised the campaign “dirt” on Trump’s opponent Hillary Clinton in exchange for a lifting of sanctions that were levied as part of the Global Magnitsky Act.
Congressmen Ted Lieu and Don Beyer of California and Virginia, respectively, submitted the referral to Attorney General William Barr along with a letter detailing their specific concerns and the penalty for violation of 18 U.S. Code § 1001, the statute that Jared Kushner would be afoul of should the DOJ find his statements actionable:
(a)Except as otherwise provided in this section, whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully—
- falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact;
- makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or
- makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statementor entry;shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both.
It’s clear that whether or not Barr opens a full federal case on Kushner or simply waits until the entire Trump team comes crashing down with the rest of the Congressional investigations, Jared is certainly guilty of the statute.
Perhaps he should start getting fitted for a prison jumpsuit.
Featured image via screen capture
