Earlier this month, The New York Times reported that Jared Kushner’s years of Saudi ass-kissing and murder-excusing had paid off, literally, when the country’s sovereign wealth fund gave him $2 billion for his newly formed private equity firm, Affinity Partners. How do we know it was, most likely, Kushner’s extremely friendly relationship with the kingdom and Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman that sealed the deal and not, say, his investing prowess? For one thing, as The Times noted, the panel that performs due diligence for the Saudi fund concluded Kushner’s firm was a joke—that management was “inexperience[d],” that the kingdom would be responsible for “the bulk of the investment and risk,” that its fees were “excessive,” and that the firm’s operations were “unsatisfactory in all aspects.” The panel warned that the country shouldn’t give the former first son-in-law a dime. But then those grave, unequivocal warnings were mysteriously overridden by the fund’s board, led by M.B.S., i.e., the guy who approved a plan to kidnap and dismember a man via bone saw and benefited from Kushner’s unwavering support. (Kushner, The Times reminds people, “played a leading role inside the Trump administration defending [bin Salman]” after Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, and urged Donald Trump to support the prince, arguing that the whole situation would blow over.)
What's amazing to me is how people, especially politicians, in their 60s, 70s, and 80s and already multi-millionaires can continue making crooked deals that make them milllions of dollars. What can they possibly spend the money on? What can they buy that they cannot already afford? It has to be mental illness that compels them. Either that or demonic possession.
