Conflicted Kushner Has Financial Stake in Hotel Biz as Industry Asks For $150 Billion Bailout, Furloughs Workers

Kushner’s Family Owns 6 Hotels Including a Marriott As He Helps Lead Negotiations With Congress on Economic Response to Coronavirus Outbreak

Washington D.C. – Today, the top hotel chain Marriott said they plan to furlough “tens of thousands of workers” without pay in response to the coronavirus crisis as it joined others in the industry to ask for a $150 billion federal bailout. That request is likely to receive a sympathetic ear from President Trump’s son-in-law and senior aide, Jared Kushner. Kushner has maintained a stake in properties owned by Kushner Companies (Cos.) – his family’s company – which started “a Hotel Division” in 2017 and owns six hotels including a Marriott in New Jersey.

The President’s son-in-law has been acting as a point man on the administration’s efforts to rescue the economy – a still-developing package that Senate Republicans have insisted include a massive corporate slush fund to be overseen by the Trump administration.

“Like his father-in-law, Jared Kushner refused to fully divest from his business before taking a top White House job – and that swampy decision could now impact workers swept up in this crisis,” said Derek Martin, director of consumer watchdog Allied Progress. “As someone with a personal stake in the hotel industry, can Kushner be trusted to make sure workers are taken care of before the shareholders and creditors of major hotels? His decision would be a lot easier if he didn’t have a financial interest in the matter.”

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