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topicnews · October 24, 2024

Democrats are calling for a special counsel investigation to determine whether Jared Kushner acted as a foreign agent

Democrats are calling for a special counsel investigation to determine whether Jared Kushner acted as a foreign agent

Topline

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel to investigate Jared Kushner – a former senior adviser to his father-in-law Donald in the Trump White House – because he may have acted as an unregistered foreign agent.

Important facts

Wyden, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Raskin, ranking member of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, said in a statement on Thursday that investigators found that Kushner’s company, Affinity Partners, has made more than $150 million since the end of Trump’s term Customers have received dollars from abroad “and are not achieving any return on investment.”

The payments came as Kushner remained politically active, particularly on U.S. foreign policy issues in the Middle East, the statement said.

The investigation found that $87 million came from the Saudi government and the company only invested “a small portion of the funds it received from the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.”

The letter also cites an Oct. 4 Reuters report that said Kushner “has discussed U.S.-Saudi diplomatic negotiations involving Israel with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed several times since leaving the Trump administration.” I spoke to Salman.”

The lawmaker’s letter to Garland said there were “significant reasons to believe that the Saudi government’s decision to hire Affinity to provide investment advice is a fig leaf for funneling funds directly” to Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump noted that Kushner had no experience in private equity before founding Affinity.

Forbes has reached out to the DOJ for comment.

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Main critic

Kushner said in a statement to Reuters that “there is no conflict of interest” and dismissed the request for an investigation as “silly political stunts.”

Important background

Wyden and Raskin also allege that Kushner advised bin Salman on U.S. foreign policy, advised Trump on his campaign, arranged meetings with the Qatari prime minister in the U.S., and more – all while being paid by the Saudi government, without to register as an agent. Kushner had worked as a senior White House adviser to Trump since 2017, and Trump described him as “a tremendous asset and trusted adviser throughout the campaign and transition period.” He founded Affinity Partners shortly after Trump left office in 2021 and raised over $3 billion in capital the following year, with about $2 billion coming directly from the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund. Democrats tried to investigate the $2 billion investment in Kushner’s private company earlier this year, but a subpoena was delayed by Republicans.

Crucial quote

“For years, I have been investigating Jared Kushner’s business dealings with foreign governments,” Wyden said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “He is posing as an investment manager, but the evidence I have seen makes him look like an unregistered foreign agent.”

Further reading

ReutersExclusive: Democratic lawmakers call for investigation into Trump’s son-in-law, according to a Reuters Saudi report
ForbesJared Kushner’s $2 billion investment from Saudi Arabia: What to know after Republicans delay subpoenaFrom Zachary Folk

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