US Senate confirms Trump nominee Kushner to be ambassador to France

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By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed Charles Kushner, father of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and the recipient of a presidential pardon after his conviction for witness tampering and tax evasion, to be ambassador to France.

The Senate backed Kushner 51 to 45. Senator Cory Booker, who represents Kushner’s home state of New Jersey, was the only Democrat to vote along with Trump’s fellow Republicans in favor of the nomination. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska was the only Republican who opposed it.

Kushner pleaded guilty in 2005 to 18 federal counts, including tax evasion, retaliating against a federal witness and lying to the Federal Election Commission. He served two years in prison, the maximum allowed in a plea deal.

Prosecutors at the time said Kushner learned that his brother-in-law was cooperating with a federal investigation and hired a prostitute to lure him to a motel room for an encounter recorded with a hidden camera and sent the tape to the brother-in-law’s wife, Kushner’s sister.

Trump pardoned Kushner, whose son is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka, in 2020.

Kushner’s confirmation was not a surprise. Trump’s fellow Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate and have confirmed every Trump nominee who has come up for a vote in the chamber since the president’s second term began on January 20.

Kushner said at his confirmation hearing that he acknowledged past “serious mistakes,” and said they might make him a better ambassador, because he had paid a price for poor judgment.

(Reporting by Patricia ZengerleEditing by Shri Navaratnam)