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The Grift Runs in the Family: Jared Kushner’s Road From a Convicted-Fraud Dynasty to the Russian Diesel Payday
Jared Kushner learned the family business from a father who went to federal prison for fraud — and now stands accused of cashing in on a Russian diesel deal that sells out America.
Published
By Katlin K., New London Media Political Desk
WASHINGTON — To understand how Jared Kushner ended up in Moscow and Kyiv brokering a deal that critics say sells out the United States, start with where he comes from: a family where the grift is the family business.
Jared’s father, Charles Kushner, pleaded guilty in 2004 to 18 federal felony counts, including tax fraud and making illegal campaign contributions. The case became infamous for the witness-tampering count: Charles Kushner hired a prostitute to seduce his own brother-in-law, had the encounter secretly recorded, and sent the tape to his sister to retaliate against relatives cooperating with federal prosecutors. He was sentenced to two years in federal prison.
That felony record did not end the family’s rise — it was rewarded. Donald Trump pardoned Charles Kushner in December 2020, wiping the slate clean, and later nominated the convicted felon to serve as U.S. Ambassador to France.
Jared Kushner carried the same playbook into the White House and out of it. After leaving his White House role, his firm, Affinity Partners, took $2 billion from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund — approved over the objections of the fund’s own advisory panel, which had flagged the deal and Kushner’s inexperience. Public service became a launchpad for private billions.
Now the pattern repeats on the world stage. Kushner and Trump energy envoy Steve Witkoff visited Moscow on September 5, 2026, and Kyiv on September 6, 2026 — presented as peace diplomacy, but functioning as the middle of a deal for the United States to buy Russian diesel.
The Family Business, Globalized
Reports indicate that a group linked to Kushner and Witkoff has been in discussions to purchase sprawling oil fields, refineries and gas stations worldwide owned by the sanctioned Russian energy giant Lukoil. Temporarily lifting or modifying U.S. sanctions to grease the diesel deal would let that group buy these assets cheaply and profit once trading normalizes.
The leading investor group includes American investor Todd Boehly, a $2 million donor to Trump’s political causes, alongside two Middle Eastern groups with active business relationships with Kushner and the Witkoff family. One investor in the proposed Lukoil purchase is a part-owner of World Liberty Financial, the Trump-family-backed cryptocurrency platform.
From a father’s fraud conviction and a presidential pardon to $2 billion in Saudi money and a Russian oil-and-sanctions play, the throughline is the same: for the Kushners, proximity to power is a cash machine — and the bill is paid by the public they claim to serve.
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New London Media is an independent newsroom publishing since 2008. Its Political Desk covers power, money, and accountability in Washington and beyond. Every published piece appears on its own permanent, search-friendly page.
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