Posted on 07/14/2004 8:30:48 AM PDT by Liz
Kushner allegedly interfered with probe
NEWARK The man, described by his well-tanned attorney as "one of the great philanthropists of this century," had no belt, no tie.
But Charlie Kushner, the multimillion-dollar real estate mogul who became Governor McGreevey's top campaign contributor, definitely had leg irons and handcuffs as he shuffled into a federal courtroom Tuesday and came face to face with a problem that no amount of cash may erase.
During the past two years, The Record has printed major investigative articles about fund-raising conflicts involving both Charles Kushner and Commerce Bank. For background on Tuesday's events, check:
Paying for power; Banking on your money
If federal charges against Kushner are true, he seems to have concocted a plot that looks like a cross between the "The Sopranos" and "Seinfeld."
Think of Jerry Seinfeld at the Bada Bing and you get the idea.
This one has hookers and videotape, a botched blackmail attempt, a motel called the "Red Bull Inn," and a diner called "Time to Eat." It also has enough stupidity to make you wonder how Charlie Kushner could become so rich - rich enough to amass a real estate fortune and have enough spare cash to bankroll McGreevey and other Democratic Party candidates with more than $3 million in donations in the last five years.
This isn't just another court case. This is a case of rich-guy stupidity.
You can't make it up.
Last week, the feds indicted a McGreevey fund-raiser who came up with a code word - Machiavellian - to signal his alleged deal-making. This week, we have Kushner, one of the richest guys in New Jersey, allegedly hiring prostitutes to work on his behalf.
Kushner is accused of trying to thwart a federal investigation of his taxes and campaign contributions by hiring hookers to blackmail potential witnesses. Kushner was even willing to shell out $25,000 each for hookers and handlers, court papers say.
One problem, though. The lugs Kushner allegedly hired to find the hookers couldn't find any.
"Seinfeld" anyone? How about "Dumb and Dumber"?
So Kushner, who is smart enough to oversee 40 partnerships from his headquarters in Florham Park and influential enough to have placed himself in line for the Port Authority chairmanship before he resigned abruptly last year, went ahead and reportedly found the hookers himself in Manhattan.
Yep, you heard that right: Rich guy goes on hooker hunt.
The feds won't say how Kushner did this. But the notion is so surreal that even U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie had trouble holding back a smile as he described it. Kushner looks like he ought to be lining up putts at Pebble Beach, not lining up hookers on Eighth Avenue.
With the hookers in his pocket, the feds say, Kushner orchestrated a plan to have them lure two potential federal witnesses to the Time to Eat diner in Somerville and then to Bridgewater's Red Bull Inn for fun, frolic, and a secret video - all of which Kushner planned to use to coerce the witnesses and stop them from cooperating with the FBI.
Sounds simple, right? Well, consider this the "Seinfeld" version of Jersey corruption.
One witness turned down the hooker's offer. The other ended up at the Red Bull Inn for some physical activity. Afterward, Kushner watched the video and "expressed satisfaction with the result," the feds say in a statement that accompanied the formal charges.
Five months later - and only days after the feds sent letters to Kushner's associates, naming them as targets of a grand jury probe - Kushner reportedly ordered the video and other pictures mailed to the hooker-seduced witness and his unsuspecting wife. The feds say Kushner had to be talked out sending the video to the couple's children. Maybe it was all that philanthropy Kushner's deeply tanned lawyer says he is doing that inspired this small moment of reported mercy.
Oh, yes, Kushner's lawyer: Say hello to Benjamin Brafman, a guy who knows the meaning of overstatement.
Before he was touting Charlie Kushner one of the "most successful businessmen in the United States and one of the great philanthropists of this century," Brafman's client list has included Michael Jackson, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, and Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano.
On Tuesday, as he entered a Newark courtroom, Kushner looked over the gallery of FBI agents, journalists, lawyers, and friends. He pressed his lips together and slumped into a chair, hunching forward as he listened quietly to Brafman and two other attorneys whisper instructions.
Kushner nodded slightly as his attorneys agreed to $5 million in bail secured by Kushner's home in Livingston and beach house in Elberon. He nodded again when the judge ordered him to wear an electronic monitoring devise, turn in his passport, and not try to obtain any other travel documents.
Otherwise, he said nothing to the judge.
His attorney dutifully marched outside to the TV cameras and called the charges "baseless" and promised Kushner would be exonerated. It hardly seemed to matter, though.
Upstairs, one of the richest guys in New Jersey was still in handcuffs and trying to fight off a forlorn look.
The man who bankrolled McGreevey got caught trying to bankroll hookers.
Bada Bing.
Bada busted.
E-mail: kellym@northjersey.com
Good Work, another big time donor to the rats bites the dust!
"I guess Kushner was counting on a Janet Reno-type justice dept under Gore. Too bad.'
It appears that al Ghorroid was wrong. There is a controlling legal authority.
.....and "Goofy and Opie" are down 15 points in NC.....
Yeah, well. He was wrong about a lot of things.
GO FEDS GO!
Glad I could do so.
"Goofy and Opie" are down 15 points in NC!
You are really tough on them, aren't you?
Good for you!
McGreevey is Dirty also.
Why does Katrina Swett have a different name than her father Tom Lantos? Is she married? Has she SPAWNED...GASP!
She married Dick Swett, an affable architect from New Hampshire. They have an enormous number of children. I don't know if they are her own or are adopted, or a combination thereof.
"Kushner is a Clinton and Torricelli backer. He sure knows how to pick 'em, eh?"
Leading cult member of the Cult of Clintonism... all about "sex" stupid.
Meanwhile, John Ashcroft is busting bong dealers and porno peddlers. He can't be bothered with things like selling pardons, giving nuclear secrets to the Chinese, etc. After all, one has to have priorities.
Was Dick Swett (what a name) a Congressman? Didn't he run againsy Bob Smith?
Correct. One or two terms, as I recall.
Didn't he run againsy Bob Smith?
I think you are correct, if my fading recollection serves.
Any connection here to McGreedy's case?
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