New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker was the lone Democrat who voted to support convicted felon, Charles Kushner’s nomination for U.S. ambassador to France.
Kushner was confirmed 51-45 in the Senate, with Booker the only Democrat to vote with Republicans. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) was the only Republican to oppose Kushner’s nomination.
In 2005 Kushner, the father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, pleaded guilty to 16 counts of tax evasion, one count of retaliating against a federal witness—his brother-in-law—and another count of lying to the Federal Election Commission, in a case which was prosecuted by then US attorney Chris Christie.
Kushner admitted to hiring a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law, who was cooperating in a campaign finance inquiry, and then videotaped the encounter and sent it to the man’s wife, who happens to be his sister, to intimidate her from testifying against him.
Christie later said the case was “one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes that I prosecuted when I was U.S. attorney.”
Kushner served two years in prison for crimes.
In 2020, Trump pardoned Kushner in one of his final acts before leaving office saying he was devoted to philanthropic organizations and causes.
