Trump-pardoned real estate mogul Charles Kushner up for key diplomatic post

New Jersey real estate developer Charles Kushner will be considered by the U.S. Senate on Monday for the ambassadorship to France and Monaco.

In 1985, he founded the Kushner Companies and has long been a philanthropist, particularly to Jewish causes and institutions like Yeshiva University in Washington Heights, Manhattan.

He has also donated to St. Barnabas Hospital in Essex County, New Jersey, which has a wing bearing his family name.

During his May 1 confirmation hearing, Kushner acknowledged his past legal missteps, claiming they sharpened his judgment and better prepared him for both the ambassadorship and life.

Kushner, who just celebrated his 71st birthday, was nominated in November after Trump called him a "tremendous business leader, philanthropist, & dealmaker, who will be a strong advocate representing our country & its interests."

"He was recognized as New Jersey Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young, appointed to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, & served as a commissioner, & chairman, of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, as well as on the boards of our top institutions, including NYU," Trump said.