Congress launches probe into whether Kushner's $2B Saudi investment
Congress launches an investigation into whether Jared Kushner used his position in Trump’s White House to land a $2billion investment from Saudi Arabia into his private equity business
- Rep. Carolyn Maloney, chair of the Oversight Committee, wrote Kushner a letter offering him a two-week deadline to provide documents related to the deal
- ‘Your support for Saudi interests was unwavering, even as Congress and the rest of the world closely scrutinized the country’s human rights abuses,’ she said
- Six months after Kushner left the White House, his new private equity firm secured a $2b investment from Saudi Arabia ‘s state-owned wealth fund
- Kushner, Donald Trump ‘s son-in-law and former adviser, secured the massive deal despite being flagged for its ‘inexperience’ and ‘public relations risks’
The House Oversight Committee is launching an investigation into whether Jared Kushner used his White House position to attain a $2 billion investment from a Saudi Arabian wealth fund.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, chair of the Oversight and Reform Committee, wrote Kushner a letter on Thursday offering him a two-week deadline to provide documents related to the deal.
Six months after Kushner left the White House, his newly formed private equity firm Affinity Partners secured a $2 billion investment from Saudi Arabia’s state-owned sovereign wealth fund, according to a New York Times report.
Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and former White House senior adviser, secured the massive deal despite being flagged for its ‘inexperience’ and ‘public relations risks’ by a panel of economics experts who screen the Saudi wealth fund’s investments.
‘Your support for Saudi interests was unwavering, even as Congress and the rest of the world closely scrutinized the country’s human rights abuses in Yemen, the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi assassins tied to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Saudi Arabia’s crackdown on political dissidents at home,’ Maloney wrote in her letter to Kushner.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, chair of the Oversight and Reform Committee, wrote Kushner a letter on Thursday offering him a two-week deadline to provide documents related to the deal
Kushner, pictured above with wife Ivanka Trump on Memorial Day, secured a $2billion deal for his private equity firm from a Saudi fund six months after leaving the White House
‘This investigation will inform the Committee about whether federal ethics laws should be strengthened to prevent senior public officials from taking advantage of their position within the federal government to reap a financial windfall—before, during, or after government employment.’
A veteran GOP strategist said that the investigation was ‘utterly unreasonable.’
‘It is traditional for people who gain expertise in a certain field while in government to then specialize in that area in their post government lives,’ the strategist told DailyMail.com.
‘There are so many examples. Off the top of my head I can think of Karl Rove, George Stephanopoulos, Jen Psaki, Al Gore, Timothy Geithner, Jack Lew and Anita Dunn to just name a few.’
Meanwhile, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), has filed a FOIA request with the State and Defense departments for records on Kushner’s official trips to Saudi Arabia in September 2020, November 2020 and January 2021, just before Trump left office.
‘If Jared Kushner used taxpayer funds to advance his business dealings with Saudi Arabia, Americans should know,’ CREW said.
During his time in the White House, Kushner was known for his close personal relationship with Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader Mohammed bin-Salman and for helping him secure a $110 billion arms deal. He was among the Saudi royal family’s staunchest defenders within the administration amid international outrage over its murder of US-based journalist and MBS critic Jamal Khashoggi.
He also was one of the chief architects of the Abraham Accords, a historic peace agreement between some Arab states and Israel which MBS was in support of.
But when it comes it his experience running a new private equity firm, the Saudi panel reportedly found Kushner’s Affinity Fund to be ‘unsatisfactory in all aspects.’
The panel also expressed serious reservations about Kushner’s limited areas of expertise and lack of domestic investors.
Despite that, however, the $620 billion Public Investment Fund (PIF) reportedly led by MBS approved the $2 billion just days after business experts raised their concerns at a June 30 meeting.
It’s twice the amount they invested in Trump Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s firm, despite Mnuchin’s vast experience in the financial industry.
The Saudis’ PIF also reportedly got at least 28 percent ownership of Kushner’s company in the deal.
A letter obtained by the Times from July of that year shows staff for the MBS-run wealth fund maintaining ‘this investment aims to form a strategic relationship with the Affinity Partners Fund and its founder, Jared Kushner.’
The business deal raises ethics concerns mentioned in the report over whether crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman is seeking to pay Kushner back for his allyship at the White House or possibly preemptively seeking influence if Trump runs and wins again in 2024
As to the panel’s concerns about why invest so much with Kushner when he had little prior experience to show for it, staff reportedly said any cuts ‘may negatively or fundamentally affect the framework of the agreed strategic and commercial relationship.’
The fund’s staff also said the investment was worth the risk because of the ability to ‘capitalize on the capabilities of Affinity’s founders’ deep understanding of different government policies and geopolitical systems.’
The business deal raises ethics concerns mentioned in the report over whether MBS is seeking to pay Kushner back for his allyship at the White House or possibly preemptively seeking influence if Trump runs and wins again in 2024.
Affinity’s pitch deck, obtained by The Intercept, touts the political connections: ‘Affinity’s unique network and experience makes us a differentiated partner for companies navigating the rapidly evolving global political and economic environment.
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