Trump son-in-law Kushner to take senior White House role
Trump son-in-law Kushner to take senior White House role
NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s influential son-in-law Jared Kushner will join him in the White House as a senior adviser, transition officials said Monday, putting the young real estate executive in position to exert broad sway over both domestic and foreign policy, particularly Middle East issues and trade negotiations.
Trump has come to rely heavily on Kushner, who is married to the president-elect’s daughter Ivanka. Since the election, Kushner has been one of the transition team’s main liaisons to foreign governments, communicating with Israeli officials and meeting last week with Britain’s foreign minister. He’s also huddled with congressional leaders and helped interview Cabinet candidates.
His eligibility could be challenged. But Kushner lawyer Jamie Gorelick argued Monday that a 1967 law meant to bar government officials from hiring relatives does not apply to the West Wing. She cited a later congressional measure to allow the president “unfettered” and “sweeping” authority in hiring staff.
Kushner, who will not be taking a salary, will resign as CEO of his family’s real estate company and as publisher of the New York Observer, as well as divest “substantial assets,” Gorelick said. She said Kushner will recuse himself “from particular matters that would have a direct and predictable effect on his remaining financial interests.”
Ivanka Trump, who also played a significant role advising her father during the presidential campaign, will not be taking a formal White House position, transition officials said. She is the mother of three young children, and her immediate plans are focusing on her family’s move from New York to Washington, though officials said her role could change in the future.
17 arrested in connection with Kardashian West jewelry heist in Paris
PARIS (AP) — French police arrested 17 people Monday in connection with the October theft of more than $10 million worth of jewelry from Kim Kardashian West, who was tied up and locked in a bathroom after armed robbers forced their way into her rented Paris apartment.
Authorities said police seized weapons and a large amount of cash in multiple raids that took place starting at about 6 a.m. in different locations in the Paris region and the south of France. The suspects ranged in age from 23 to 72, and included several known for prior robberies and other crimes, according to a police document.
Among the items seized were an automatic pistol and other weapons, as well as $147,500 in cash, said police officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak publicly about the continuing investigation.
Earlier this month, the starlet broke her silence about the robbery in a teaser for the Kardashian family’s reality show, telling two of her sisters her thoughts at the time: “They’re going to shoot me in the back. There’s no way out.”
A spokeswoman for the reality star said she had no comment Monday.
Airport shooting suspect gets public defender in court
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The Iraq war veteran held in the fatal shooting of five people inside Fort Lauderdale’s airport was appointed a federal public defender on Monday after telling a judge that he has no job and only $5 or $10 in the bank.
Esteban Santiago, 26, spoke clearly during a brief hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Alicia Valle, who ordered him held until his next hearings.
Shackled in a red jumpsuit in the heavily guarded federal courtroom, Santiago answered mostly yes or no to questions, and told the judge he understands the charges, which include committing violence against people at an international airport resulting in death, and two firearms offenses.
She told him the death penalty could apply.
“We are telling you the maximum penalty allowed by law so that you understand the seriousness of the charges,” the judge said.
Overrated or not, Streep’s speech has galvanizing effect
NEW YORK (AP) — Speaking in a hoarse voice that quivered with emotion, Meryl Streep silenced a boisterous Golden Globes crowd and sparked a clamor heard around the country, all the way to Trump Tower.
Streep’s impassioned speech against Donald Trump while accepting the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award at Sunday’s awards has been heard like a battle cry in a left-leaning Hollywood that has been trying to reconcile itself to a Trump presidency it overwhelmingly didn’t vote for. Her speech has also further intensified the divide between Hollywood and Trump supporters, who call Streep another example of media elite on a soapbox.
Though Trump is yet to take office, the arts and the President-elect are increasingly on a collision course. Trump has criticized the cast of “Hamilton,” which voiced its concerns about inclusion to Vice President-elect Mike Pence when he went to see the show on Broadway. Seeing political parallels in its story of underdog rebellion, some Trump supporters called for a boycott of the “Star Wars” film “Rogue One.” And now, following Streep’s remarks, he on Monday called the most decorated actress in Hollywood “overrated.”
With such institutions as “Star Wars” and Streep in the crosshairs, the culture wars have gone nuclear. Battle lines and boycotts are being formed ahead of the Jan. 20 Inauguration, at which some entertainers have refused to perform. Some conservatives have already vowed on social media not to watch the Feb. 26th Academy Awards, which promises to be rife with political protest.
How the growing discord will affect the tenor in the arts for the next four years remains to be seen. But what was clear Monday in the wake of Streep’s galvanizing speech is that the clash is just getting started. In a night where the song-and-dance ode to musicals “La La Land” set a Globes record with seven wins, including best picture, musical or comedy, Streep’s speech had the largest impact.