Jared Kushner
Jared Kushner

Slithering through the FARA loophole… Senate Finance Committee chairman Ron Wyden sent a letter to Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners seeking information about the $3B investment that it received from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Those three governments account for 99 percent of Affinity’s investments.

The Oregon Democrat is deeply concerned that Middle Eastern governments are using funds managed by Affinity as a means to pay tens of millions of dollars every year to former president Trump’s son-in-law Kushner, creating significant conflicts of interests and potential counterintelligence risks.

Wyden believes Affinity’s exclusively foreign funding private investment funds are exploiting a Foreign Agents Registration Act loophole to keep Kushner fees out of the public information loop.

Under FARA, individuals working for foreign entities in the US are required to disclose their activities and the amount of money paid to them.

But foreign governments can bankroll private investment funds, and pay politically exposed Americans for “investment advisory services” to exploit the longstanding disclosure exemptions afforded to private investment funds.

Wyden notes that Kushner is a private equity novice with a questionable investment background whose main recommendation is his relationship with the former president.

“Taking advantage of a legal loophole, Affinity’s leadership and employees, many are former Trump officials, are untouched by US laws requiring disclosure of work on behalf of foreign entities.”

Tough luck, Ron. Jared will remain untouched. Kushner says he has no plans to work in the Trump II White House.

And it’s a safe bet that the FARA loophole will remain wide open during under a re-elected Trump.

Those incredible Ten Commandments… How bizarre does it get? Donald Trump asked a roomful of evangelicals if they ever read the Ten Commandments. That’s downright nuts.

“Has anyone read the ‘Thou shalt not steal.' I mean has anybody read this incredible stuff? It’s just incredible,” he said at the Faith and Freedom jamboree held in Washington on June 22.

Trump went beyond the obviously unconstitutional Louisiana law requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in every school room.

He would love to see the Ten Commandments hanging in public, private schools and many other places.

But will the twice divorced felon who paid hush money to cover up a fling with porn star Stormy Daniels, a sexual encounter that occurred while wife Melania was pregnant with her son, Baron, hang the Ten Commandments on the wall of the Oval Office during the upcoming Trump Restoration?

Don’t count on it.

That Ten Commandments jive is just some juicy red meat that Trump tossed to the born-again Christian crowd.

Former G-Man Makes Crisis Splash… Former FBI spokesperson J. Peter Donald has debuted on the Chambers rankings in Band 2 for the crisis and risk management category. The guy is a shooting star in the crisis communications world.

He launched Arena Advisory Group in August 2021 after a year and a half stint at Reevemark as senior VP.

Following his five-year run (2010-2015) at the FBI, Donald joined the NYPD as director of communications, and rose to the assistant commissioner slot in charge of strategic and corporate communications. Earlier in his career, he was an advance man for John McCain’s presidential campaign.

Chambers said clients and peers hold Donald in “very high esteem for his deep experience and expertise in crisis communications, litigation support, reputation management and public affairs.’

Chambers featured a quote from a client who called Donald a star with wisdom and experience that are double his years. Geez, the guy is only 37 years old.

Of the Chambers recognition, the ever-modest Donald told O’Dwyer’s: “Most of these people on this list were my bosses or mentors at one point in my career. It is humbling to be included with such a great list of experts.”

Hats off to J. Peter.