Thread by @VickyPJWard

Of course Trump was going to pardon Charles Kushner. This was a forgone conclusion.

In Aug 2016, I wrote a piece for @esquire about Jared Kushner that predicted the inevitability of this moment. I said Jared viewed the gold-plated vision of a Trump White House as the ultimate step in a carefully plotted ascent to redemption for his family.esquire.com/news-politics/…

This is hardly the first time that money has bent the ordinary path of American justice. In many ways, the painting over of a family stain has become a rite of dynastic passage in the United States.

But unlike, say, the family of financier Marc Rich—who secured a presidential pardon in the waning days of Bill Clinton's presidency—the Kushners have exerted their influence in plain view, and with astonishing speed.

I ended my Esquire piece by saying, “None of us knows where it will all end.”

Now we do: with an act that epitomizes the cronyism and self-dealing that will be the lasting legacy of the Trump administration.