STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A Staten Island drug smuggler, who had a 10-year prison sentence commuted by President Donald Trump, helped secured clemency through apparent ties to Jared Kushner, according to a New York Times report.
The paper published its report Sunday highlighting the findings of an investigation into Trump’s 2021 pardon of Jonathan Braun, a convicted drug smuggler and accused predatory lender with ties to Meiers Corners.
Braun and his supporters pursued various avenues to secure the commutation, which came in the final hours of Trump’s presidency, including ties to Kushner, the former president’s son-in-law and senior White House advisor, according to the Times.
Their investigation found Braun enrolled in the inaugural class of the New Jersey-based Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School alongside Jared Kushner’s youngest sister, Nicole.
The paper also reported that a business associate of Braun’s told them that the convict’s cousin said that Braun’s father, Jacob Braun, contacted Jared Kushner’s father, Charles Kushner, about getting their push for a pardon before the former president.
Like other Trump pardon pursuers, the Braun family also retained the services of attorney and Trump ally, Alan Dershowitz, who helped several people in their clemency efforts with the former president, but told the paper that he didn’t remember what efforts he made specific to Jonathan Braun’s commutation.
Ultimately, the various efforts led to Jonathan Braun’s sentence commutation on Jan. 20, 2021 for his 2019 conviction related to his role in a billion-dollar international ring that smuggled marijuana into the U.S.
The convict, who would’ve served 10 years on that sentence, told the Times that he and his supporters pursued his commutation through “multiple paths,” and that he wasn’t sure which led to Trump’s ultimate decision.
“I believe God made it happen for me because I’m a good person and I was treated unfairly,” he told the paper.
Trump’s administration highlighted Jonathan Braun’s commutation in a Jan. 20, 2021 press release that came in the final hours of the former president’s time in office, and outlined the circumstance of 73 pardons and 70 commutations.
The press release, which the Times reported was written by Kushner’s office, said Jonathan Braun would seek employment to support his wife and children.
However, the Times reported that the commutation caught the leaders of a federal investigation into the predatory lending industry off guard as prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan had been pursuing a cooperation agreement with Jonathan Braun.
The deal would have seen the convict let out of prison in exchange for flipping on insiders of the predatory lending industry and potentially wearing a wire, but law enforcement lost any leverage after Trump’s commutation.
Jonathan Braun, who has been banned from participating in the usurious industry across the country, is the subject of an ongoing lawsuit brought by Attorney General Letitia James, who has also brought a fraud case against Trump.
James launched her case against Jonathan Braun and some of his business associates in 2020 alleging that they cheated small businesses across the country out of millions of dollars by selling them “merchant cash advances,” or fraudulent, sky-high interest loans.
In his interview with the Times, Jonathan Braun portrayed himself as the victim of an unfair criminal justice system.
“What is so bad about me?” he said in the interview with The Times. “I never hurt anybody, never did anything wrong to anybody.”
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
