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January 21st , 2025 Len’s Political Note #700   The Senate should not confirm Charles Kushner

 2025                                       Appointments

Charles Kushner

Some writers have identified four nominees who absolutely should not be confirmed by the Senate.  Some have identified five.  After looking at Trump’s early nominees, I identified seven.  Nominees who were so inappropriate for the position for which they were nominated, it seemed reasonable that all Democrats would reject confirmation and three Republicans could do the same.

Here are the nominees 7 I identified:

  1. Attorney General:                         Matt Gaetz.                           Reports indicated that he was a drug taking, sexual libertine, about whom there was evidence he had paid at least one underage girl for sex.  The reports were so damning, I did not have to write anything.  Gaetz withdraw his name from consideration for Attorney General.
  2. Defense Secretary                         Pete Hegseth.                      Reports indicated that he assaulted women, was publicly drunk, and could not manage the veterans’ organizations that he had been in charge of.  The reports were sufficiently damning so it looked like he might have to withdraw his name.  But, as the reports go, Trump threatened Hegseth critic and combat veteran with a primary opponent in 2026 if she did not support Hegseth.  She is still reconsidering her view of Hegseth as are the other Republican Senators.  (There is a report that Hegseth has enough Senators for the nomination.  Don’t quit.  Oppose him anyhow) Len’s Political Note #687
  3. National Intelligence Director             Tulsi Gabbard                       Reports indicated that, if she was not a pawn of Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Syria’s Bashar Al-Assad, she acted as if she were one. Some worried that, under her leadership, American intelligence would be funneled directly to Russia and to our enemies in the Middle East.  She is considered by some to be the most vulnerable of Trump’s nominees.  Len’s Political Note #688
  4. Education Secretary             Linda McMahon                    The wealthy co-owner of Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment, she has led an organization that glorifies violence; among the least appropriate leadership roles for one of the most important figures for educating America’s children.  Len’s Political Note #689
  5. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.        Holds a bizarre collection of beliefs about health and science – from skepticisms about the efficacy of vaccines and the danger of their causing autism to the Covid-19 virus have been bioengineered to avoid affecting Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese to denying that HIV causes Aids to believing that fluoridation of water supplies causes lower IQs to imagining various benefits of raw milk.  He does have other ideas that could conceivably make him acceptable to some Democrats – a healthy skepticism about corporate power in the food industry for instance.  That skepticism should not be enough to make him acceptable. Len’s Political Note #690
  6. FBI Director Kash Patel                             A right wing activist who proposes the use of the FBI as an instrument of revenge against those who have wronged him or Donald Trump. He already has a preliminary list drawn up.   Len’s Political Note #691.
  7. IRS Director Billy Long                               A former auctioneer and Congressman who most recently has been consulting with businessmen about how to use an Internal Revenue Service benefit intended to help stabilize businesses during the pandemic to benefit post-pandemic businesses at the expense of taxpayers. Len’s Political Note #692

Read my Note about these nominees.  Read newspapers.  Then contact Republican Senators.  Trump cannot afford to lose more than three Republicans, assuming all Democrats oppose a nominee.

I urge you to contact the following Republican Senators about any nominees you would like them to oppose.  I especially suggest Pete Hegseth who, as Defense Secretary, could do real damage to the American military.   Contact your own Senators as well.

            Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky (202-224-2499)

            Senator Susan Collins of Maine. (202-224-

            Senator Lisa Murkowsky of Alaska. (202-224-2523)

            Senator John Curtis of Utah. (202-224-2512)

            Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. (202-224-5824)

            Senator Todd Young of Indiana. (202-224-5623)

            Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa. (202-224-3254)

            Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina (202-224-6342)

            Senator John Cornyn of Texas. (202-224-2934)

I have two more nominees I will urge you to oppose.  They have family connections with Trump.  For Republicans who did not have the courage to oppose Donald Trump, these are nominees who have no business representing the United States.  There is little rationale for supporting them other than obedience to Donald Trump.  The first of these is Charles Kushner.

Charles Kushner has been nominated to be the Ambassador to France.  Few in the United States notice.  The French are not pleased.  You might say they are insulted.

The Financial Times drily explains: “the nomination of a convicted felon and family connection is highly unusual even by the standards of recent American diplomatic appointments.”

It is not just that Kushner is a convicted felon.  He is also Donald Trump’s machutin.  (That’s Yiddish for your child’s father-in-law).

It is not just that Kushner is a convicted felon.  He was also pardoned by Donald Trump. (Possible because Kushner was prosecuted under federal law).

It is not just that Kushner was pardoned by Donald Trump.  It is also the crime for which he was pardoned.

It is not just that he pled guilty to illegal campaign contributions (he used other people’s names for donations to exceed legal limits on donations) and tax evasion (Trump doesn’t really believe tax evasion is a crime).  He was also pardoned for witness tampering.

It is not just witness tampering.  The witness tampering was an effort to intimidate his brother-in-law who was cooperating with prosecutors.  Kushner hired a prostitute to seduce Esther’s husband Charles Schulder, had a retiring cop named O’Toole arrange to secretly video the sex act, and had a messenger bring the video to Esther for her viewing pleasure.

Just what is a pardon anyway?  When the constitution was written and authority to pardon was given to the President, in England a pardon was the King’s mercy. A pardon eliminates the consequences of committing a crime.  Even if a felon has already served time for a crime (Kushner served 14 months of a 2 year prison sentence before being sent to a half-way house) a pardon eliminates the legal stigma.  It is impossible, of course, to erase the stigma from our minds.  We can be conscious of what Chris Christie called a despicable crime, while knowing that technically, Trump would not be sending a felon as his ambassador to France.

Trump defended his choice to Paris Match and the English language version of Le Monde reported it so that I could read it (as could Charles Kushner, and Donald Trump, neither of whom speaks French).  Trump explained:  “It’s a great thing because he’s in our family….Essentially a family member of mine is coming to France …and he’s a very good friend of mine, too.  And it’s something he really wanted to do.  He feels so strongly about it. This was his first choice, by far.”

Trump explained his thinking about other matters as well during his interview.  Not only did he look forward to expanding trade between the US and France to more than wines and champaign, he praised France for reconstructing Notre Dame after the fire.  “I’ve never seen anything quite like it, other than the World Trade Center, of course.  It was a very tough reconstruction [and] I know so much about construction.”

Le Monde further reported that he compared the reconstruction of Notre Dame to his own reconstructed political success.  “It’s resilience, getting it done, getting it built…Oh, I know all about it… I became president again.  I guess [I’m] pretty resilient also.”

As I suggested above.  Contact your Senators and those Senators who might be willing to offend Donald Trump and reject the nomination of his mahutin as Ambassador to France.  In making this nomination Donald Trump insults the United States and France.

 Spring Elections Coming up. Now would be a good time to Donate money.

 Wisconsin – Election: Primary, February 18,  General Election April 1

 State Supreme Court

Support Democratic County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford against former Attorney General Brad Schimel.   There is no primary for this position.  See Len’s Political Note #. This race is crucial for preserving the right to abortion in Wisconsin, for preserving an ungerrymandered state legislature and eliminating voter suppression.  Currently Wisconsin’s Supreme Court has a 4-3 Democratic majority.  Susan Crawford is running to replace a Democratic justice who is retiring.  A Republican win would give the court a 4-3 Republican majority.  See Len’s Political Note #684

State Superintendent of Public Instruction

Support Democratic incumbent Jill Underly in the primary and in the general election.  See Len’s Political Note #.      Jill underly serves as a bulwark against right wing culture war positions.  See Len’s Political Note #693.

Florida

 Florida:  Primary January 28, Special Election  April 1     

By the time Florida and New York have their elections, Republicans would have a 217-215  majority.  Does that mean that a victory in all three elections would create a 218-217 Democratic majority.  Accurate, but unlikely.  All three districts are heavily Republican.  Keeping the Republicans below 60% would be a kind of triumph and encourage Democrats in their planning for 2026 Congressional elections.  It is worth donating to reduce the Republican margin and to take the chance that we could get lucky and win one or two of these race.

Florida 01

Support Democrat Gay Valimont.  She has no primary. Formerly, head of Florida’s chapter of the gun safety lobby, Mom’s Demand Action, she ran against and lost to the Matt Gaetz who has resigned from Congress.  DONATE to her now.  You can make a difference.  Eight Republicans are running in the primary, though a state official and Donald Trump’s endorsement.   See Len’s Political Note #694

Florida 06 Two Democrats are running for the nomination – an attorney and a teacher.  Three Republicans are running – a state senator, a campaign worker, and an aspiring entrepreneur.

New York

New York does not have a primary.  When Elise Stefanik resigns from Congress to take the position of Ambassador to the UN, the party chairs of the 15 counties that are all or partly in the District will select their party’s candidate to fill the Congressional vacancy.  Governor Kathy Hochul will select a date for the election within the time limitations set by New York law.

New York 21.

 Nine Democrats have been mentioned for or have expressed interest in being the nominee.  The same number of Republicans have been mentioned or expressed interest.  Republicans and Democrats will have an interesting evening selecting their candidates.