This Recently Arrested Trump Ally Could Have a Lot to Say About Ivanka Trump's Husband Jared Kushner

The news that Donald Trump’s ally, Tom Barrack, was arrested in late July seemed to be a blip on the radar amid the news of Allen Weisselberg’s tax fraud case as CFO of the Trump Organization. The private equity investor was booked on federal charges for lobbying the former president on behalf of the United Arab Emirates. This legal situation possibly has serious consequences for one Trump family member: Jared Kushner.

Vicky Ward, New York Times best-selling author of Kushner, Inc.: Greed. Ambition. Corruption. The Extraordinary Story of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, told SheKnows exclusively that the Barrack news is significant because he was “Jared Kushner’s conduit to the Middle East.” The former Trump friend was the connection who “helped the Kushners with their real estate business for years and he’s the one who introduced, Jared to MBS [Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia] and the Qataris.” This is significant because it was Qatar Investment Authority, which helped bail out the Kushner family’s failing 666 Fifth Avenue property while Trump was in office, per Public Citizen.

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Ward believes everyone should be paying attention to the Barrack situation “because it’s not just about Tom Barrack, it’s about America’s relationship with the Middle East.” She stated, “Trump was frankly not that interested in the relations of the Middle East, that was driven by Jared.” And obviously, Jared had an interest in making sure his father, Charles Kushner’s business succeeded — especially when he could curry favor while his father-in-law was in the White House.

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The author thinks the timing of Jared’s investment firm launch was also curious given the fact that it came a little over a week after Barrack’s arrest. “I think it’s classic Jared to announce his investment firm to take back control of the narrative in terms of PR,” she explained. “It’s an absolute PR move to make us all forget that he and Tom were as tight as tight can be, but the government is not forgetting.” Even with his exit from politics, Ward also believes that investigators will be “quite interested in that book he’s writing” because the publishing deal is about his time in the White House dealing with Middle East relations.

This could be a reason both Jared and wife Ivanka Trump have taken steps to separate themselves from the political world and the Trump family business. The heat in the kitchen is getting a little too close for comfort.

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