A top advisor in former President Barack Obama’s administration has breathlessly defended Hunter Biden while pushing false claims of “corruption” about President Donald Trump’s family.
Former Obama advisor Ben Rhodes accused Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner of “unprecedented” “corruption” in his dealings with Gulf Arab states.
The comments come as Democrat President Joe Biden comes under mounting scrutiny for foreign influence peddling and bribery schemes.
Since leaving the Trump White House, Kushner has launched a private equity firm.
Kushner’s company gets most of its money from the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia.
He had worked closely with the Saudis while serving as a top adviser to Trump.
Rhodes accused Kushner of engaging in pay-to-play politics and “corruption that we’ve just never seen” during an interview with MSNBC’s Alex Wagner.
He alleged that Kushner, who helped broker a historic peace deal in the Middle East, “chose” to work with Arab states expecting a payoff later on.
“He chose to work on issues in the Middle East, and he chose to work with the Gulf Arab states, knowing that the payout would be on the back end,” he said.
The Saudis are making an “investment” in case Kushner’s father-in-law wins the presidency back, Rhodes said.
He continued by alleging that Kushner engaged in a “level of corruption that we’ve just never seen before.”
“This is just putting a price tag on American foreign policy,” Rhodes said.
“This is a level of corruption that we’ve just never seen, and it’s hiding in plain sight.”
It isn’t just Democrats who have criticized Kushner, however.
The lead Hunter Biden investigator in the House, Republican James Comer (R-KY), said Kushner “crossed the line” by accepting a $2 billion investment from the Saudis.
Kushner addressed criticism during a talk with Axios in February.
“If you ask me about the work that that we did in the White House, for my critics, what I say is point to a single decision we made that wasn’t in the interest of America,” Kushner said.
Rhodes contrasted Kushner’s dealings with Hunter Biden’s business deals.
He claims Republicans have found no evidence that Hunter leveraged his family connections for profit.
“There is literally an impeachment inquiry going on now in search of a rationale that doesn’t exist, that Hunter Biden somehow used his connection to his father to profit when Joe Biden was vice president,” Rhodes said.
Hunter Biden’s former business partners have told Congress that the Biden name was “the brand” behind Hunter’s international dealings.
The shady deals earned him millions of dollars in countries like China and Ukraine, nations Joe Biden dealt with in the course of his vice presidency.