Kushner associate's donation suggests 'No Labels' is 'just a Republican red flag operation'

A donor behind the No Labels group's effort to mount a third-party challenge to President Joe Biden has financial links to Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Drew McKnight and his wife Amy each gave $5,600 to the supposedly nonpartisan group last year, and he was appointed this year as co-CEO of Fortress Investment Group, which conducted several high-profile business deals with Kushner Companies during the five years he previously served as managing partner, reported The New Republic.

No Labels is “extremely clearly to me, speaking frankly, just a Republican red flag operation,” said Pat Dennis, the president of super PAC and Democratic opposition research group American Bridge. “Really just [an] incredibly dangerous effort and in bad faith.”

No Labels is hoping to raise $70 million to place a third-party candidate on the 2024 presidential ballot but has so far refused to identify its donors, but Dennis said the longstanding financial ties between McKnight and Kushner's family raise alarms.

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“Those kinds of relationships are built on relationships,” Dennis said of those ties. “You do favors for each other, and you make deals that ultimately are profitable but, you know, you’re helping each other out in different ways.”

McKnight made his donation in August, about three months before Kushner Companies attempted to take over rival firm Veris Residential Inc. with help from Fortress, and while that bid ultimately failed, McKnight's contribution came as No Labels was spending money on ballot initiatives aimed at getting ballot access for their eventual candidate.

“If No Labels was acting in good faith here, they would have made completely different decisions at every step of this process,” Dennis said.