west palm beach former new jersey gov chris christie called it one of the most loathsome disgusting crimes he ever prosecuted as us attorneyafter charles kushner discovered his brotherinlaw was cooperating with federal authorities the wealthy real estate executive and father of president donald trumps soninlaw jared hatched a scheme for revenge and intimidationkushner hired a prostitute to lure his brotherinlaw then arranged to have the encounter in a new jersey motel room recorded with a hidden camera and the recording sent to his own sister the mans wifethe scheme didnt work kushner later pleaded guilty to tax evasion and making illegal campaign donations in a case tailormade for tabloid headlineson wednesday trump pardoned kushner as part of a latehour clemency spree during the final days of his presidency that has included a slew of campaign aides and allies among them four of the six trump associates convicted in the mueller investigation he has granted clemency to nearly 50 people in the last weekthe white house in its announcement cited kushners charitable work since he completed his sentence in 2006 as the reason he deserved clemencythis record of reform and charity overshadows mr kushners conviction and 2 year sentence for preparing false tax returns witness retaliation and making false statements to the federal election commission the white house said adding that kushners case had been championed by matt schlapp chairman of the american conservative union and othersnot mentioned kushners relationship to jared kushner the senior trump adviser who is married to trumps eldest daughter ivanka and who inspired by his fathers time in prison pushed trump to back criminal justice reform legislation and has been an integral part of the administrations clemency effortschristie did not respond to a request for comment on trumps decision to pardon a man hed sent to prison but christie who headed trumps transition and has informally advised the president for years has made clear that he believes the senior kushner deserved itmr kushner pled guilty he admitted the crimes christie told pbs last year as he promoted a book that blamed the younger kushner for his firing from trumps transition team and so what am i supposed to do as a prosecutor i mean if a guy hires a prostitute to seduce his brotherinlaw and videotapes it and then sends the videotape to his sister to attempt to intimidate her from testifying before a grand jury do i really need any more justification than thathe added i mean its one of the most loathsome disgusting crimes that i prosecuted when i was us attorney and i was us attorney in new jerseykushner eventually pleaded guilty to 18 counts including tax evasion and witness tampering he was sentenced in 2005 to two years in prison the most he could receive under a plea deal but less than christie had soughtkushner also agreed to pay 508900 to the fec for violating contribution regulations by failing to obtain an ok from partners to whom more than 500000