Benzinga - by Shanthi Rexaline, Benzinga Editor.
Former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner reportedly used his position as the White House adviser to seek the ouster of a Washington Post editor over the publication’s coverage of the Russian investigation.
What Happened: Kushner in 2019 pressured the then Washington Post CEO Fred Ryan to withdraw support for Marty Baron, who retired from the media outlet in Feb. 2021 after nearly a decade stint,” Baron said in his new book entitled “Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos and the Washington Post,” Guardian reported. The book is to be published Tuesday.
The Post along with the New York Times, received the Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the Russian election interference in 2016.
Kushner "suggested the Post issue an apology and there be a ‘reckoning of some sort,” Baron said in his book. Trump’s son-in-law reportedly wrote in an email to Ryan, “standing by my editor at that time was my biggest regret in the 10 years I owned the newspaper,” referring to his days at the New York Observer.
Apparently, Ryan did not budge, and Baron stayed at the company till his retirement.
Why It’s Important: Kushner is in the eye of the storm over the $2 billion financing his private equity firm Affinity Partners received after Trump stepped down as president after his electoral defeat. Democrats on the Oversight Committee have been pushing for an investigation to determine whether a quid-pro-pro was involved.
However, Kushner and his wife, Ivanka, have distanced themselves from Trump’s campaign for the 2024 election. Despite being saddled with 91 criminal charges and facing four indictments, Trump is still the frontrunner in the Republican primary race.
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