Ex-wife a Chinese spy, says Murdoch
BRITAIN: She is the glamorous former wife of a multibillionaire who has mixed with the great and the good of Westminster and Washington. But Wendi Deng Murdoch, once married to media mogul Rupert Murdoch, is now facing questions about whether she used her high-flying connections for more than just socialising.
British intelligence officials reportedly discussed with the FBI whether her friendship with former prime minister Tony Blair was a cause for concern. It was prompted by fears among the United States intelligence community that Murdoch had used her connections to lobby for the Chinese government.
The approach reportedly was made after claims that Blair and Murdoch had a romantic relationship – an allegation always fiercely denied by the pair.
United States officials also warned Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, about his friendship with Murdoch, according to US media reports. They were said to have expressed fears that Murdoch was pushing a Chinese garden project in Washington, DC that some feared could be used for spying.
The allegations were reported in
a newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch, who divorced from his Chinese-American wife in 2013.
Journalist and Rupert Murdoch biographer Michael Wolff tweeted yesterday that the media mogul had privately expressed concerns about his then-wife’s links to the Chinese government.
‘‘Since their divorce, Murdoch has been telling anybody who would listen that Wendi is a Chinese spy – and had been throughout the marriage,’’ Wolff wrote.
It was during the marriage that Wendi Deng Murdoch got to know Blair and his wife Cherie. She also got to know Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump’s daughter, and her husband Kushner, both regulars on the New York socialite scene.
Photographs taken in recent years show Murdoch celebrating Trump’s inauguration with Ivanka Trump and attending Kushner’s birthday party.
When Kushner was briefed by intelligence officials about the threats of lobbying from foreign governments, it is alleged that Murdoch was raised as an example.
A spokesman for Murdoch told the she ‘‘has no knowledge of any FBI concerns or other intelligence agency concerns relating to her or her associations’’, and ‘‘has absolutely no knowledge of any garden projects funded by the Chinese government’’.
Whitehall officials reportedly refused to comment on the claims British officials had approached the FBI.