Jared Kushner just can’t catch a break. Late last month, the First Son-in-Law had his White House security clearance stripped, which means he can no longer view the classified information he needs to do his “job” as Senior Advisor to the President, whatever that might have been.
He’s also found himself at the receiving end of some of the most brutal reporting in recent months. Multiple foreign operatives from China to the Middle East have been caught communicating amongst each other about how they believe Jared is a naïve pawn that can be easily manipulated. Many even specified his family’s real estate empire as ripe fodder for coercion and exploitation.
Now that family business, The Kushner Companies, is coming under more intense scrutiny much closer to home. The Associated Press reported late Wednesday that “New York City’s buildings regulator launched investigations at more than a dozen Kushner Cos. properties” for routinely filing paperwork “claiming it had zero rent-regulated tenants in its buildings across the city.”
These fraudulent filings enabled the Kushner Companies to skirt laws designed to protect tenants from eviction, particularly those paying lower rent than otherwise might be made in markets like New York City.
More from AP:
The false documents allowed the Kushner Cos. to escape extra scrutiny during construction at 34 of its buildings, many which showed a sharp decline in rent-regulated units following the work. Housing Rights Initiative, a watchdog group that uncovered the false filings, says that made it easier for the Kushner Cos. to harass the low-paying, rent-regulated tenants so they would leave, freeing up apartments for higher paying ones.
The report made it clear that Jared Kushner’s name and signature do not appear on any of the allegedly fraudulent documents filed with city, but the abuses themselves did occur during the time he was the CEO of the Kushner Companies.
The Kushners, like the Trumps, have long been plagued by allegations – some proven – of landlord abuses, particularly against tenants at the lower end of the market. While this investigation needs to play out, the alleged acts of fraud are just another day at the office for the president and his family.
