Charles Kushner (Getty)
Charles Kushner, the Kushner Companies boss who spent over a year in prison on charges including falsifying tax returns, making illegal campaign donations and retaliating against a witness, received a pardon from President Donald Trump Wednesday, the White House announced.
The pardon has significant implications for Kushner Companies, as it may make it easier for the landlord to secure financing for its projects. Kushner’s conviction had been a complicating factor in the company’s ability to get loans, according to David Enrich, a New York Times journalist who authored a book about one of the firm’s biggest lenders, Deutsche Bank.
December 24, 2020 12:21 p.m.
A Republican congressman tore into President Donald Trump Wednesday night for finding fault with parts of the COVID-19 stimulus and government package that were also in the White House’s budget proposal.
Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH) specifically took issue with the President’s claims which Trump made in the same secretly-filmed Tuesday night video in which he suddenly supported $2,000 stimulus checks that Congress should not have designated certain funds for foreign countries in the package.
The stimulus bill was part of a broader omnibus spending bill, and as Gonzalez correctly noted, the White House had proposed some of the same funds that Trump attacked in his remarks Tuesday.
Corin Cates-Carney / Montana Public Radio
President Donald Trump Wednesday followed through on his threat to veto the national defense bill, setting up a possible veto override vote in Congress.
Trump called on lawmakers to include limits on social media companies he claimed are biased against him and conservatives. He has previously said the biggest winner of the defense bill is China.
The bill includes a provision from Montana Senators that would expand health benefits for veterans exposed to Agent Orange, along with investments for the Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls and new aircraft for the Montana Air National Guard.
GOP Rep Slams Trump for Doubling Back on Stimulus Checks, Says White House Rejected $2K
On 12/23/20 at 5:05 PM EST
Calling into radio s
Joe Piscopo Show, the New York Republican said he agreed with those who think the $600 stimulus checks approved by lawmakers Monday aren t enough but criticized the president for threatening to not sign the legislation. Why didn t the president say this before? Why did his administration say it had to be $600? King asked. They were the ones driving this.
The retiring congressman added: Nancy Pelosi wanted $2,000 all along, and I m not a Pelosi fan. Bernie Sanders wanted $2,000. The president and his administration refused to give it, and now he s trying to somehow double back. He s leaving Republicans out there hanging out to dry after signing off on an agreement and asking us to vote for it.
17 Dec 2020
Australian Cardinal George Pell praised President Donald Trump Wednesday, highlighting his “splendid” Supreme Court appointments and participation in the March for Life.
Speaking at a virtual launch of his book
Prison Journal, which chronicles the 404 days he spent in an Australian prison before having his conviction overturned, Cardinal Pell said President Trump is a “controversial fellow,” which isn’t all bad.
As president, he has been “a bit of a barbarian, but in some important ways, he is ‘our’ barbarian,” Pell stated.
In particular, Trump has made a “positive contribution” to Christianity through his three Supreme Court picks, Pell observed.