The Senate on Monday confirmed the nomination of Charles Kushner to become the ambassador to France, cementing a family member of President Trump to a key diplomatic post despite his past legal trouble.
Senators voted 51-45 to approve Kushner’s nomination. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) voted in favor of confirmation, while Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) voted against it.
Kushner, who is Jared Kushner’s father and Ivanka Trump’s father-in-law, will take over as ambassador to France and Monaco despite pleading guilty two decades ago to 18 counts including tax evasion, lying to the Federal Election Commission and retaliating against a federal witness.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), then the U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, led the investigation into what he later called “one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes” he prosecuted during his tenure.
He ultimately spent two years in prison. Trump pardoned Kushner in 2020.
“I don’t sit here before you today and tell you I’m a perfect person,” Kushner told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during his confirmation hearing. “I am not a perfect person.”
“I made a very, very, very serious mistake, and I paid a very heavy price for that mistake,” he said. “I think that my past mistakes actually make me better with my judgment, better in my view of life, better in my values to really make me more qualified to do this job.”
President Trump in November hailed Kushner as a “tremendous business leader, philanthropist and dealmaker” when he nominated him for the post, which usually goes to a top ally or campaign donor.
Kushner is not the only family member to get a highly coveted post in the administration. Massad Boulos, the father-in-law of Tiffany Trump, is serving as senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs.
President Trump also nominated Kimberly Guilfoyle, who was Donald Trump Jr.’s girlfriend until last year, to become ambassador to Greece.
The vote also continues the Senate’s recent push to put the president’s ambassadorial picks in place. Kushner is the 10th ambassador to win confirmation overall.
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