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| Jared Kushner |
Bad move, Jared. President Trump’s egomaniacal son-in-law Jared Kushner has written a memoir modestly called “Breaking History: A White House Memoir” set to be published on August 23. Geez.
But there will be at least one buyer of the mammoth 500-page book and future doorstop.
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, is sure to crack open the pages of Kushner’s tell-all.
She will be looking for insights into his cushy ties with Saudi Arabia and its de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammend bin Salman.
The Wall Street Journal, which reviewed portions of the book, notes that it details how Kushner stood with Prince Mohammed in the aftermath of the murder and dismemberment of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi and how members of the Trump administration were uneasy with the first son-in-law’s cozy relationship with the top Saudi.
Maloney is already investigating Saudi Arabia’s decision to plow a cool $2B into Kushner’s investment company. That investment was made six months after Trump left office. Kaching.
Did Prince Mohammed reward his buddy for his whitewashing of the Kingdom’s lousy human rights abuses in Yemen, murder of Khashoggi and crackdown on political dissent at home?
Inquiring minds want to know. Breaking History may provide grist for probers of Kushner.
Some questions for Jared: Why in the world would you want to bring more attention to yourself? Do you really think the book will benefit you in any way? How out of touch can you possibly be?
Sad saga comes to an end. Frank Okunak, former COO of Weber Shandwick pleaded guilty to wire fraud and falsifying records on July 27. The fraud occurred from 2011 to 2020.
He was accused of embezzling more than $16M from the PR firm and its parent company Interpublic.
The funds were used for his own personal business ventures, tickets for sporting events and charitable donations
Interpublic fired Okunak once his wrongdoing was discovered. No client funds were embezzled.
Okunak, who is 56, has agreed to forfeit $10.8M and pay $16M in restitution. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 6.
Get rid of the “S” and “G” in environmental, social and governance and you are in business, said The Economist on July 21. It believes the ESG term lumps too many dizzying objects together, rendering it meaningless.
The magazine notes that Elon Musk is a “G” nightmare but an “E” champion for popularizing electric cars.
Closing a coal mine deserves praise on the “E” front but brickbats in the “S” category because of the negative impact on workers, communities and suppliers.
The Economist recommends focusing entirely on the “E” though it would be recast as “emissions.”
The current “E” is too broad because it covers biodiversity, water scarcity and other issues, according to the magazine.
Emissions pose the biggest danger to the planet, particularly from gas-belching industries.
Not a bad idea. The Economist gets an "A" for effort.
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