Ivanka and Hubby Jared: Both Getting Very, Very Rich as Unpaid Government W/H Employees

Smile for the photo op then go count your earnings

(Even painful to watch and listen to those two)

For those who say: “Hey, Jared Kushner and wife and Ivanka Trump-Kushner are both unpaid W/H senior advisors to Trump and they don’t take a salary as they both do a top notch job for America.”

I say and wonder: Just how well are they doing in their unpaid government jobs? 

Maybe apply an oops as you start to read the answer to that question in this fine piece from Business Insider, but hang on tight.

Ivanka Trump-Kushner and husband Jared Kushner received at least $36 million from outside income in 2019 (that according to their just-released official government financial disclosure forms). 

They both continue to receive a substantial income from a range of businesses, investments, and other assets while serving as senior White House advisors to the president and at the same time their outside earnings have raised conflict of interest issues many times before.

This income story was first reported by The Washington Post. It shows their outside income from the businesses, properties, and other assets that they own. 

According to the Post, the amount is about $7 million higher than their earnings in 2018, but the real amount may be as high as $157 million, since the Office for Government Ethics does not require officials to submit exact but only approximate income figures within certain ranges. 

A little background: 

Ivanka Trump closed her fashion business in 2018, a year after taking a role in the White House. The business had been subjected to a boycott campaign when she initially refused to close it despite working in a government role. 

She still continues to own a stake in her father's business, the Trump Organization, and has a wide range of other assets. 

Plus, according to the disclosure forms filed to the Office of Government Ethics, she received $4 million in income from the Trump International Hotel in Washington DC. 

Husband Jared Kushner stepped aside from the day-to-day management of his family real estate firm, Kushner Companies, when he took a job in the White House, but still has part-ownership of the firm.

However, he decided earlier this year not to divest of stocks in a real estate tech start-up named “Cadre,” that he co-founded, despite being advised by government ethics lawyers to do so (Note: Government ethics nonprofit watchdog, CREW, reported in July).

Noteworthy: The Kushner Company, did however, receive $90 million in investments from foreign sources (as reported on by The Guardian).

My 2 cents: Read and assess this any way you might choose – but my conclusion is a simple one: This family has a mob-mentality that applies to their businesses all the while professing that they are merely non-salaried government employees serving the president and public.

They may have (probably do have I bet) double or triple bookkeeping in place with tons of tax experts covering for them for all their foreign income that has been pouring in by the boatload, and that is probably is for government-related favors in return that is yet uncovered in the light of day.

But I may be wrong – they may be just simple expert business people working hard for every ten million they earn. 

But, who really knows. But, keep in keep this in mind that this is why Trump fears any tax or accounting firm exposure, and thus why he is fighting so hard to keep his official tax and accounting data secret or tired up while he is in office. 

That is pretty clear to me and to much of the thinking public, too.  But as I said, I might be wrong. However, for anyone who follows this Trump stuff – or call it a classic, highly-skilled crime spree – since this family is after all in public service not out of loyalty to the public, but instead to gain as much as and make as much (on the side) while in government and not much else.

Thanks for stopping by.