Kushner fined for late filing of financial disclosures: report

Jared Kushner has been fined by the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) for his late reporting of a financial transaction in his efforts to transfer management of his large number of businesses so he could serve in the White House. 

A newly released document indicates that Kushner, a top White House adviser and husband to first daughter Ivanka Trump, along with 17 other White House staffers did not file their personal financial disclosure statements on time, McClatchy confirmed. 

The group of staffers also included top aides to President Trump.

Key members of the White House team also late to file disclosure statements included former chief of staff Reince Priebus and press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. 

Kushner’s fine is somewhat rare among federal employees, as only 3.6 percent of more than 12,000 similar transaction reports filed in 2016 were assessed late fees, according to an OGE survey, McClatchy found.

Walter Shaub, the former director of OGE who resigned earlier this summer, told The Hill he’s never heard of OGE assessing a late fee for a non-OGE employee. He said fines are usually levied by the executive branch agency an official files his disclosure with, rather than by OGE.

Kushner will pay the fine, a White House official knowledgeable about the situation but not authorized to speak publicly told McClatchy.

In accordance with federal law, people required to file the disclosure documents must pay a fine of $200 directly to the U.S. Treasury if the statements are more than 30 days late. 

However, the fees can be waived if the late filing was because of “extraordinary circumstances,” as determined by the White House’s ethics officer.

The late report for which Kushner appears to have been cited involves real estate investment company JCK Cadre LLC, according to McClatchy.

The White House declined to comment on individual staffers, pointing out that a report filed as many as 75 days after an asset was sold might not be considered late, according to ethics rules, and that it would be possible to get extensions beyond that, as well.

– This story was updated at 3:09 p.m.