New questions raised about Trump pardon that 'destroyed' massive DOJ investigation

With an eye on the possibility that Donald Trump could be re-elected president in 2024, new questions are being raised about a pardon he issued in the waning moments before he left office in 2021 and son-in-law Jared Kushner's involvement.

At issue was the surprise pardon of New Yorker Jonathan Braun who had only served a quarter of his ten-year sentence for running a massive marijuana ring and was being investigated for predatory lending coupled with violent threats against his victims at the time of the Trump commutation.

According to a report from the New York Times, the Trump pardon of Braun "destroyed" a Department of Justice investigation into predatory lending nationwide where negotiations were underway with Braun to provide evidence.

The Times is reporting, "The commutation dealt a substantial blow to an ambitious criminal investigation being led by the Justice Department’s U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan aimed at punishing members of the predatory lending industry who hurt small businesses. Mr. Braun and prosecutors were in negotiations over a cooperation deal in which he would be let out of prison in exchange for flipping on industry insiders and potentially even wearing a wire. But the commutation instantly destroyed the government’s leverage on Mr. Braun."

Additional questions are being raised on the involvement of Kushner and his father, Charles Kushner, in guiding the pardon proposal to Trump.

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"In working to secure his release, Mr. Braun’s family used a connection to Charles Kushner, the father of Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and senior White House adviser, to try to get the matter before Mr. Trump," the Times is reporting. "Jared Kushner’s White House office drafted the language used in the news release to announce commutations for Mr. Braun and others."

Noting that Braun has admitted he has never met Jared Kushner, the report adds Braun’s pardon "highlights what former administration officials say were major problems at the Trump White House as it considered clemency applications: the lack of rigorous vetting of applications and the sidelining of the Justice Department."

Reporting that the Manhattan prosecutors who were involved in the cooperation negotiations with Braun were never consulted, the report adds that former attorney general Bill Barr complained, "there were pardons being given without any vetting by the department.”

According to the Times, Jared Kushner and Jacob Braun, Jonathan Braun's father, refused comment on the story, and Charles Kushner, who served 2 years in jail on a felony conviction, "hung up" when asked for comment.

Charles Kushner was also the recipient of a Trump pardon, it should be noted.

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