Congress refers Jared Kushner to DOJ for possible criminal prosecution

Two House Democrats on Monday referred Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner to the Department of Justice for possible criminal prosecution over Kushner’s false statements about how he obtained a top-secret security clearance.

The letter — sent by Reps. Don Beyer of Virginia and Ted Lieu of California — comes after multiple media outlets reported that Trump personally ordered Kushner’s top-secret security clearance to be granted, despite concerns from the U.S. intelligence community, including the CIA.

“Mr. Kushner and Ivanka Trump have both apparently lied in various public interviews and in statements, saying that the President never directed [former Chief of Staff John] Kelly to grant a clearance for hi son-in-law,” the two Democratic lawmakers wrote, saying that the lies warrant an “immediate investigation” from the DOJ to “determine if Mr. Kushner is criminally liable for his false statements.”

The cloud of scandal and lies around Jared Kushner keeps getting worse. @tedlieu and I are asking the Justice Department to "open an immediate investigation to determine if Mr. Kushner is criminally liable for his false statements." pic.twitter.com/lPMscK7PxC

— Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) March 5, 2019

Members of Congress can send criminal referrals to the Department of Justice on basically anything, including information they uncover in investigations. Republicans have made numerous politically motivated criminal referrals during Trump’s tenure against figures in the Russia investigation, none of which have gone anywhere — despite the fact that Trump-appointed officials ran the DOJ.

However, the two Democratic lawmakers laid out their case for why the Kushner security clearance scandal requires a probe, saying that Trump and Kushner “have made a mockery of the security clearance process” and “put U.S. national security at risk,” and that it demands that Attorney General Bill Barr order an immediate investigation.

And the lawmakers made a plea to Barr to take the referral seriously, rather than blindly dismiss it because it is against Trump’s family member.

“As Attorney General, your loyalty is to the United States, not Mr. Kushner or even the President,” Beyer and Lieu wrote. “We look forward to prompt response and thank you for your attention to this serious matter.”

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.