Ken Kurson is a journalist, musician, and political consultant who worked for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, wrote speeches for Donald Trump and advised him in his 2016 presidential campaign, and was the editor in chief of the New York Observer from 2013 to 2017.
The Observer’s publisher was Kurson’s friend, Jared Kushner.
Kurson is also a good friend of Jared’s father, Richard Kushner, who, in retaliation for his brother-in-law assisting with authorities in a criminal investigation of him, hired a prostitute to lure the brother-in-law to a New Jersey motel room where their tryst was recorded with a hidden camera. Kushner then had the recording sent to his sister, The Associated Press reported.
Kurson is a bit of dirtball, which of course is not surprising given the company he keeps.
President Donald Trump appointed Kurson in early 2018 for a seat on the board of the National Endowment for the Humanities. FBI investigators learned during a routine background check of allegations that Kurson had harassed several people, including a doctor at Mount Sinai Hospital, the New York Times reported.
The alleged harassment began when Kurson and his wife were in the process of divorcing in 2015. The Mt. Sinai physician, a good friend of Kurson’s wife, learned that there had been a number of negative reviews about her on websites such as Yelp and RateMDs.com, The Times reported.
In addition, the wife of the physician’s boss began receiving phone calls from someone making allegations about the doctor and her boss. The wife, who suspected the calls came from Kurson, regarded the calls as harassment and the police was notified, The Times said.
The Times’ story also mentioned Deborah Copaken, who wrote a first-person piece for The Atlantic about Kurson commenting on her breasts when she interviewed for The Observer.
Kurson did not get the position with The NEH.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/26/business/ken-kurson-jared-kushner.html
Two years later, Kurson, also known as “Jayden Wagner” and “Eddie Train,” was charged by the U.S. attorneys in New York with stalking and harassment.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/individual-charged-cyberstalking-three-victims
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/23/jared-kushner-friend-ken-kurson-charged-with-stalking.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/18/nyregion/ken-kurson-charged-trump-kushner.html
Trump pardoned Kurson in January 2021 while Kurson was in negotiations with federal prosecutors about a plea deal.
Kurson was then arrested in August 2021, seven months after the pardon, and charged with two felonies related to installing spyware on his ex-wife’s computer in order to spy on her.
“We will not accept presidential pardons as get-out-of-jail-free cards for the well-connected in New York,” the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., said in a statement announcing the charges.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/18/nyregion/ken-kurson-charged-trump-kushner.html
Kurson pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of computer trespass and attempted eavesdropping. If he avoids arrest for a year and completes 100 hours of community service, the court said, his plea can be downgraded to harassment.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/02/16/kurson-trump-guilty-plea/
