Kushner associate pardoned by Trump charged with 2 felonies in New York

An associate of former President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner was charged Wednesday with eavesdropping and computer trespass for allegedly using spyware to monitor his former wife’s online activity. 

Ken Kurson, who was pardoned by Trump and is a close friend of Kushner’s, was charged with two felonies by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, it announced in a statement.

Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance said the two felonies are connected to the 52-year-old going through his then-wife’s communications September 2015 to March 2016. 

Vance alleged Kurson used “spyware” at his office when he was editor-in-chief of the Observer Media Group, which Kushner once owned, to access his former wife’s passwords, emails and social media accounts.

Kurson faced charges last year after federal prosecutors alleged Kurson threatened and stalked several people during his divorce proceedings years ago. He was then charged with federal cyberstalking crimes.

Kurson was in plea negotiations with prosecutors when Trump pardoned him right before leaving office, The New York Times reported.

Vance noted that the federal pardon did not prevent Kurson from being charged on a state level.

“We will not accept presidential pardons as get-out-of-jail-free cards for the well-connected in New York,” Vance said. “As alleged in the complaint, Mr. Kurson launched a campaign of cybercrime, manipulation, and abuse from his perch at the New York Observer, and now the people of New York will hold him accountable. We encourage all survivors and witnesses of this type of cybercrime and intimate partner abuse to report these crimes to our Office.”

The Hill has reached out to Marc Mukasey, Kurson’s lawyer, for comment.