Jared Kushner, son-in-law and senior adviser to President Donald Trump, has been dispatched by the White House to discuss criminal justice reform issues with key senators, BuzzFeed News has learned. Kushner met with Sens. Chuck Grassley and Dick Durbin on Capitol Hill Thursday.Kushner was spotted entering Grassley’s office on Thursday morning. An aide familiar with the meeting confirmed that Kushner is speaking with the senators about the reform legislation, which stalled last Congress despite early optimism that it could pass.
To be sure, this is an important issue, and the fact that the meeting even happened is a step in the right direction.But why exactly is the president’s young and inexperienced son-in-law serving as the White House’s point person on this? Rachel took a look this week at just how much Kushner suddenly has on his plate:
“We already knew, for example, that Jared Kushner, the 36-year-old son-in-law of the president, we already knew that he was the White House point person on Middle East peace and China and Canada and Mexico, including building the wall. We’re also told he was in charge of trade deals in the White House, which is kind of a big responsibility on its own. […]”In addition to reimagining the V.A., he will also be in charge of the $1 trillion infrastructure plan that his father-in-law is planning, and he will be in charge of installing brand-new technology and data infrastructure for every single department and agency of the federal government, and he will be in charge of broadband policy for the nation, and he will be in charge of getting rid of the opioid crisis.”That’s all Jared; that’s all Jared’s portfolio now.”
Say hello to Donald Trump’s Shadow Vice President.Note, we also learned this week that Kushner had a previously undisclosed meeting with the head of a Russian bank — with direct ties to Vladimir Putin and Russian spy services — which came after his previously undisclosed meeting with the Russian ambassador to the United States, which helps explain why Kushner is set to meet with the Senate Intelligence Committee as part of its investigation.How Trump’s son-in-law will find time to prepare for his testimony remains something of a mystery.
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Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."