Welcome back to Barf Bag.
In early April, as voters were screaming for elected Democrats to do literally anything to thwart President Donald Trump‘s agenda, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) held the Senate floor for a record 25 hours with a speech decrying the administration’s early actions to destroy federal agencies and defy the rule of law.
Democrats had been enraged that Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) helped Republicans pass a budget bill in March, and Booker said in his speech that the party needed to find its resolve. “We all must look in the mirror and say, ‘We will do better,’” he said. “These are not normal times in our nation,” Booker said as he began his yapping marathon. “And they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate. The threats to the American people and American democracy are grave and urgent, and we all must do more to stand against them.”
Booker was hailed in the press and on social media, and has since been floated as a 2028 contender. But cut to this week: Booker was the only Democrat to vote to confirm Charles Kushner, father of Jared and father-in-law to Ivanka Trump, to be Ambassador to France. (The vote was 51 to 45, with two Democrats and two Republicans not voting.)
Kushner, you may recall, pleaded guilty in 2004 to more than a dozen counts of tax evasion, one count of retaliating against a federal witness, and another count of lying to the Federal Election Commission and served two years in prison. The witness part was particularly gross: His brother-in-law and former employee, William Schulder, was cooperating with federal investigators in the investigation against him. In retaliation, Kushner hired a sex worker to sleep with Schulder, recorded the encounter, and sent the tape to his own sister. (The couple gave the tape to prosecutors.) Trump pardoned Kushner on his way out the door in December 2020.
What did Booker have to say about this upstanding guy, who coincidentally helped finance his first mayoral run in 2002? In a statement explaining his vote, Booker said he supported Kushner because of his work on a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill in 2018:
The First Step Act was the result of a broad coalition of advocates, from a bipartisan group of Senators, to civil rights leaders, law enforcement, and other groups. One of the most important was Charlie Kushner, whose experience in prison profoundly affected him and led him to be an advocate for needed reforms. Without his efforts, the bill wouldn’t have become law. In addition, on numerous occasions, on issues related to the incarcerated, the condemned, and those coming out of prison, he has worked with me to fight for those too often forgotten about by people in both parties.
I have passionate differences and disagreements with Charlie Kushner, but I supported his confirmation because he has been unrelenting in reforming our criminal justice system and has substantively helped achieve the liberation of thousands of people from unjust incarceration.
That doesn’t have anything to do with U.S.-French relations, my guy!!
These are, indeed, not normal times.
Trump-related barf:
- Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a Congressional hearing that the legal principle of habeas corpus meant that Trump has a right to deport people, which is basically the opposite of what it does. [NPR]
- Noem is also reportedly so paranoid about leaks that DHS employees are being subjected to polygraph tests. [Wall Street Journal]
- Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared not to be aware of many cuts in his agency, including on research into rare diseases and Alzheimer’s. [NOTUS/MSNBC]
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth led a Christian prayer service in the Pentagon during the workday on Wednesday, in which a pastor praised Trump as a divinely appointed leader. [New York Times]
- Don Jr. claims that people are clamoring for him to run for president. [USA Today]
- The Army has released tickets for its 250th anniversary military parade that just happens to be on Trump’s birthday. [Axios]
- Quote on Trump’s crypto dinner: “We have very strict laws that prohibit foreign nationals from making campaign donations. So the great irony here is that many of the people buying this currency would not be eligible to donate $100 to the president’s campaign.” [NBC News]
- A Trump-pardoned January 6 rioter was arrested for burglary in what’s believed to be the first incident of new charges for a Capitol insurrectionist. [The Guardian]
- Political prisoner Mahmoud Khalil finally got to hold his newborn son in a Louisiana jail after a judge blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to keep him and the baby separated by a Plexiglass barrier. [The Guardian]
Non-Trump barf:
- Vulnerable New York Rep. Mike Lawler previously said he was opposed to cutting Medicaid or “defunding” Planned Parenthood, but voted for the bill that does that. (One strategist is calling it the MAGA Murder Budget.) [NOTUS/Fox/Twitter]
- Former Rep. Matt Gaetz is threatening to run for Florida governor. [NBC News]
- Freshman Democratic Rep. Julie Johnson of Texas dumped between $218,000 and $2.22 million worth of personal stock in the days around Trump’s tariff announcement. [NOTUS]
- Mike Donilon, former advisor to President Biden, was paid nearly $4 million to work on his failed reelection campaign. That’s 10 times more than campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon made. [Axios]
This has been your weekly Barf Bag, thanks for reading!
GET JEZEBEL RIGHT IN YOUR INBOX
Still here. Still without airbrushing. Still with teeth.
