When Jared Kushner's Dad Went to Jail for Plotting Against His Own Brother-In-Law With a Sex Worker

Parenting is a challenging journey filled with moments of joy, but also trials and tribulations. For Jared Kushner, the journey was marred by the shocking actions of his father, Charles Kushner. While Jared is more commonly associated with his father-in-law, Donald Trump, the Kushner family's own saga is equally dramatic.

In 2005, Charles—a multimillionaire real estate tycoon and prominent Democratic donor (till before 2016)—was given a two-year sentence in federal prison after entering a guilty plea to eighteen counts, which included tax evasion and unlawful campaign contributions. Charles also went on a mission of vengeance (and, as prosecutors would contend, witness intimidation) after learning that his brother-in-law and former business partner had helped federal authorities in their probe, as per Nicky Swift. 

A powerful New York real estate tycoon arranged for a hidden camera to capture Charles' brother-in-law being seduced by a prostitute in a motel in New Jersey, as per The New York Times. He then played the tape for Charles' sister. Moreover, the incident took an intriguing turn when Chris Christie, the U.S. Attorney at the time, handled Charles's prosecution. Christie later became a well-known Trump advocate and led his transition team, as many of us know today.

Over his tenure with the Trump team, Christie's past with the Kushner family was going to be heavily examined. When he was fired from the campaign in 2016, many pointed the finger at Jared. Nevertheless, Christie has consistently stood by his choice to bring charges against Charles. He even penned a book titled Let Me Finish: Trump, the Kushners, Bannon, New Jersey, and the Power of In-Your-Face Politics that is partially focused on the story.

Circling back to the Kushner saga, Charles eventually entered a guilty plea. Then, in a 2019 interview with PBS, Christie said, "He admitted the crimes. And so what am I supposed to do as a prosecutor? I mean, if a guy hires a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law, and videotapes it, and then sends the videotape to his sister to attempt to intimidate her from testifying before a grand jury, do I really need any more justification than that?"

Christie added, "I mean, it's one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes that I prosecuted. And I was U.S. attorney in New Jersey, so we had some loathsome and disgusting crime going on there." In a press statement declaring his guilty plea, Charles acknowledged that he "devised a scheme to retaliate against a cooperating witness and her husband by having a prostitute seduce the husband and covertly filming them having sex."

According to the statement, "Kushner told the Court that he paid a private investigator $25,000 to arrange for the seduction and videotaping of the cooperating witness' husband. Kushner admitted to personally recruiting the prostitute and instructing that the videotape be mailed to the cooperating witness." In addition, Kushner filed a guilty plea to one count of making false statements to the Federal Election Commission and sixteen counts of assisting in the filing of fake tax returns.