Kushner’s ethical conflicts eat away at our democracy

Before I turn to Jared Kushner, let me ask: Do you believe the U.S. government does the right thing all or most of the time?

The Gallup organization started asking this question in 1963, when more than 70 percent of Americans said they did. Since then, the percentage has steadily declined. By 2016, before Donald Trump became president, only 16 percent of Americans said they did.

Why the decline? Surely various disappointments and scandals played a part — Vietnam, Watergate, Iran-Contra, “weapons of mass destruction,” the Wall Street bailout.

But the largest factor by far has been the rise of big money in politics. Most people no longer believe their voices count.

That view is backed by solid research. Princeton University professor Martin Gilens and Northwestern University professor Benjamin Page analyzed 1,799 policy issues that came before Congress and found “the preferences of the average American appear to have only a miniscule, nearzero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.”

Instead, Gilens and Page concluded, lawmakers respond to the policy demands of wealthy individuals and moneyed business interests.

Trump and Bernie Sanders based their shockingly successful campaigns on the public’s outrage at the corruption of our democracy by big money. Sanders called for a “political revolution.” Trump promised to “drain the swamp.”

Trump hasn’t drained it, of course. He’s turned the entire government into a giant bog of lobbyists, real estate moguls, Wall Streeters and billionaires.

Which brings us to Kushner, the putative swamp-drainer’s son-inlaw and adviser.

When he took the White House job, Kushner chose not to follow the usual practice of wealthy people when they join administrations — putting their assets into blind trusts managed by outside experts.

Instead, Kushner retained control over the vast majority of his interest in Kushner Companies, worth as much as $761 million.

So how has Kushner separated his business dealings from his dealings on behalf of the United States? He hasn’t.

The New York Times reported last week that after the CEOs of Citigroup and Apollo Global Management attended White House meetings set up by Kushner, the two firms loaned the Kushner family business more than $500 million.

Kushner insists that he’s done nothing wrong, and that there’s no direct evidence he has profited from his position in the White House or put personal financial interests ahead of the interests of the American public.

But that’s not the point. Conflicts of interest are always difficult to prove, which is why we have ethics rules to avoid even the appearance of such conflicts.

And it sure looks as if Kushner is using his White House perch to make money for himself, just as his father-in-law is.

Perhaps Kushner tells himself that the American public is already so cynical about big money’s takeover of our democracy that his own conflicts are chicken feed by comparison.

Which may be true. But by adding to the distrust, Kushner is doing his own bit to destroy American democracy.