claim: Cory Booker "defended" Jared Kushner on CNN, after receiving campaign contributions from him.
origin: New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker was reticent about the Democratic National Committeeâ€™s proposal to revoke White House adviserJared Kushnerâ€™s security clearance during a 28 May 2017 appearance on CNNâ€™s State of the Union. The proposal came in response to reports that Kushner, who is also Trumpâ€™s son-in-law, had sought to open an unofficial â€œback channelâ€ for communications with the Russian government.Â Bookerâ€™s lackÂ of support for removingÂ Kushnerâ€™s security clearance has prompted some commentators to draw a link to Kushnerâ€™s past donations to the New Jersey Senatorâ€™s political campaigns. For example, the day after his appearance on State of the Union, the International Business TimesÂ (IBT) printedÂ Bookerâ€™s remarks about Kushner side by side withÂ details about Kushnerâ€™s past donations: < New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker â€” a potential 2020 White House contender andÂ recipient of major campaign contributions from Jared Kushner and others in the Kushner family â€” declined to endorse his partyâ€™s call for the White House to revoke the security clearance of the presidentâ€™s son-in-law. > Later that day, the Democratize US web site ran with IBTâ€™s report claiming that Booker â€œcame to Kushnerâ€™s defenseâ€ on CNN, and adding that â€œprogressives are livid.â€ The web siteÂ AlterNetÂ republished IBTâ€™s article with the headline â€œDemocrat Cory Booker Defends Jared Kushner â€” After Receiving Loads of Campaign Cash.â€ First, here is exactly what Cory Booker said on CNN: Bookerâ€™s Stance on Kushner Host Dana Bash asked the Senator:Â â€œAre you with the DNC in wanting Jaredâ€™s security clearance to be suspended?â€ At first, Booker did not directly answer that question: < Well I think this should really raise a lot of concern and I think the media around this is not overblown, in the sense that you have Republicans and Democrats coming out and saying â€œHey, wait a minute, thatâ€™s very problematic.â€ And so we need to get to the bottom of what was going on, there needs to be an investigation, there needs to be an answering of the obvious questions that are arising. But again, to me, whatâ€™s worrying me are the patterns weâ€™re seeing. So one is this administrationâ€™s not talking about our values, cozying up to authoritarian leaders, and the other pattern we have is just this continuous drumbeat of inappropriate contacts with the Russians. > When Bash pressed him, Booker replied: < Well, again, I think we need to first get to the bottom of it and he needs to answer for what was happening at the time. It raises very serious concerns for me. That [the removal of Kushnerâ€™s security clearance] could be a potential outcome that I seek, but I want to understand â€” at least hear from â€” Jared Kushner, as well as the administration, about what was exactly going on there.Â > So Booker did not overtly oppose the removal of Kushnerâ€™s security clearance, but he did not support it either. In essence, he expressed a preference for an investigation, including the questioning of Kushner, but left open the possibility that he might subsequentlyÂ support the removal of his security clearance.Â While these remarksÂ fell short of the DNCâ€™s explicit call for Kushner to be fired and have his security clearance revoked, they were roughly similar to those made by other leading Democrats. On 28 May 2017, Senator Dick Durbin declined to comment at all when asked about the allegations surrounding Jared Kushner, and the question of his keeping his security clearance, on Fox News Sunday. The following day, Representative Adam Schiff â€” the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee â€” appeared on ABCâ€™s This Week and supported a â€œreviewâ€ of Kushnerâ€™s clearance, but not its immediate removal, although heÂ didÂ say he would support revoking it if Kushner was found to have been untruthful.Â The day after that, Senator Al Franken appeared on CBS This Morning and also stopped short of supporting the proposal. NowÂ for a look at Jared Kushnerâ€™s past contributionsÂ to Bookerâ€™s political campaigns.Â Donations Federal Election Commission (FEC)Â records show that Kushner gave $10,400 to Bookerâ€™s 2013 US Senate campaign, and $10,000 to the Booker Senate Victory committee, in 2014.Â Members of his immediateÂ family also donated to Bookerâ€™s 2013 Senate campaign: Jaredâ€™s wife Ivanka Trump, mother Seryl Kushner, and sisters Dara Kushner Orbach and Nicole Kushner Meyer gaveÂ BookerÂ $10,400 each; Jaredâ€™s brother Joshua donated $5,200Â and a further $10,000 in 2014.Â Ivanka Trump also contributed $10,000 to the Booker Senate Victory committee in 2014.Â In 2009, Jared, Seryl, Joshua, Dara and Nicole contributed $20,000 each to Cory Bookerâ€™s Newark Mayor re-election campaign, according to New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission records.Â As for whether the two have a personal relationship: Cory Booker attended the wedding of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump in 2009, according to the New York Post.Â Ivanka Trump hosted a fundraiser for Cory Booker in 2013, according to Politico.Â Conclusion Jared Kushner has personally donated a total of $40,400 toÂ Cory Booker, and members of his immediate family have contributedÂ a further $166,800. The Kushner family and Ivanka Trump have long records of contributingÂ tens of thousands of dollars to many political candidates, mostly Democrats, over the years. Their donations to Booker were far from unique or unusual, but rather part of a pattern of campaign contributions to New Jersey and New York politicians. Secondly, Cory Booker famously received $7 million in donations for his 2010 Newark Mayor re-election campaign, and the FEC website lists 17,758 separate individual donations to his 2013 US Senate campaign.Â However, even before Donald Trumpâ€™s election as President, the Kushner family and Ivanka Trump hadÂ a prominence and influence in New York and New Jersey business and politics beyond what is reflected in theirÂ donations to Booker.Â Does this mean Bookerâ€™s comments on CNN on 28 May were influenced byÂ past donations from the Kushner family, and his connections to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump? Itâ€™s unclear. Â The Kushners have been prolific donors to many political candidates over the years, and Booker has received millions of dollars from thousands of contributors during his political career.Â And finally, what Booker actually said on CNN shouldnâ€™t be exaggerated. He didnâ€™t â€œdefendâ€ Kushner, as some commentators have claimed. The Senator said Kushner should â€œanswer for what was happening at the timeâ€, and called for an investigation, sayingÂ the reports of Kushnerâ€™s secret communications with Russia were â€œnot overblownâ€ and raise â€œvery serious concerns.â€ However, these two separate facts are both accurate: First, Cory Booker has in the past received campaign donations from Jared Kushner and his family; second,Â while the DNC called for Kushnerâ€™s security clearance to be revoked, Booker â€”Â like other leading Democrats â€” declined to go that far.Â