One of the lead candidates to be the next administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development has close links to top Trump aide Jared Kushner, and advocated in a court case on his father’s behalf.
Martin J. Silverstein is not widely known in development circles but has emerged in the mix to head the U.S. aid agency. He served as ambassador to Uruguay under President George W. Bush and is currently senior counsel at Greenberg Traurig, the same law firm where former New York Mayor and Trump surrogate Rudy Giuliani works as a senior advisor.
In 2005, when Charles Kushner — the father of Trump’s influential son-in-law and White House Senior Advisor Jared Kushner — faced sentencing for tax evasion and other crimes, Silverstein was one of 700 people who submitted letters to the court on the elder Kushner’s behalf, praising his charitable contributions and arguing for a reduced sentence. Kushner was ultimately sentenced to two years in prison.
About the authors
Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe
Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.
Sophie Edwards
Sophie Edwards is a Devex Contributing Reporter covering global education, water and sanitation, and innovative financing, along with other topics. She has previously worked for NGOs, and the World Bank, and spent a number of years as a journalist for a regional newspaper in the U.K. She has a master's degree from the Institute of Development Studies and a bachelor's from Cambridge University.
