Courts & Law

Plea deal for Kushner friend Ken Kurson, pardoned by Trump but charged in N.Y. state court with stalking his wife

By Shayna Jacobs
Yesterday at 3:12 p.m. EST

NEW YORK — Ken Kurson, a close friend of former president Donald Trump’s son-in-law, has pleaded guilty in state court to misdemeanor charges of computer trespass and attempted eavesdropping, more than a year after he was pardoned by Trump for federal charges that he stalked a doctor, her colleague and the colleague’s spouse.

If he avoids arrest for a year and completes 100 hours of community service, his plea can be downgraded to harassment.

“The defendant is to lead a law-abiding life,” Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Josh Hanshaft said as he accepted the guilty plea.

[Trump family friend Ken Kurson charged in New York stalking case]

Kurson, 53, an author and political consultant who served as editor of the New York Observer, was charged in August by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. He admitted to hacking his then-wife’s computer in 2015, monitoring her email and social media activity through a service called WebWatcher. Kurson also targeted a friend of his former spouse who worked with her at a summer camp, according to court documents.

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By Shayna Jacobs
Shayna Jacobs is a federal courts and law enforcement reporter on the national security team at The Washington Post, where she covers the Southern and Eastern districts of New York. Twitter https://twitter.com/shaynajacobs