STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A Staten Island drug smuggler, who had a 10-year prison sentence commuted by President Donald Trump, helped secured clemency through apparent ties to Jared Kushner, according to a New York Times report.
The paper published its report Sunday highlighting the findings of an investigation into Trump’s 2021 pardon of Jonathan Braun, a convicted drug smuggler and accused predatory lender with ties to Meiers Corners.
Braun and his supporters pursued various avenues to secure the commutation, which came in the final hours of Trump’s presidency, including ties to Kushner, the former president’s son-in-law and senior White House advisor, according to the Times.
Their investigation found Braun enrolled in the inaugural class of the New Jersey-based Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School alongside Jared Kushner’s youngest sister, Nicole.
The paper also reported that a business associate of Braun’s told them that the convict’s cousin said that Braun’s father, Jacob Braun, contacted Jared Kushner’s father, Charles Kushner, about getting their push for a pardon before the former president.
Like other Trump pardon pursuers, the Braun family also retained the services of attorney and Trump ally, Alan Dershowitz, who helped several people in their clemency efforts with the former president, but told the paper that he didn’t remember what efforts he made specific to Jonathan Braun’s commutation.
Ultimately, the various efforts led to Jonathan Braun’s sentence commutation on Jan. 20, 2021 for his 2019 conviction related to his role in a billion-dollar international ring that smuggled marijuana into the U.S.
The convict, who would’ve served 10 years on that sentence, told the Times that he and his supporters pursued his commutation through “multiple paths,” and that he wasn’t sure which led to Trump’s ultimate decision.
“I believe God made it happen for me because I’m a good person and I was treated unfairly,” he told the paper.
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