Mueller probes Kushner’s China business dealings
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Special counsel Robert Mueller is probing Jared Kushner ’s efforts to get foreign investors beyond Russia to provide financing for his company during the presidential transition, including in China, CNN reported Monday.
The probe was previously only said to have focused on the Russia contacts of US President Donald Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, only with the campaign’s data analytics and Kushner’s ties with disgraced ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Mueller’s team is probing Kushner’s conversations during the presidential transition to get financing for the Kushner Companies-backed 666 Fifth Avenue office building in New York after financial setbacks, CNN said, citing people familiar with the investigation.
Kushner’s father founded the real estate developer and lender.
CNN said Mueller’s investigators have yet to contact Kushner.
Kushner played a leading role in the presidential transition team’s contacts with foreign governments, and has indicated he spoke during that time with more than 50 contacts from over 15 countries.
One week after the Nov. 8, 2016 election, Kushner met with the chairman and other executives from the Chinese group Anbang Insurance, The New York Times has reported.
Kushner and Anbang chairman Wu Xiaohui were close to finishing a deal for the Chinese conglomerate to invest in 666 Fifth Avenue. But the talks broke down, the Times said.
Other business dealings targeted by Mueller include negotiations on the same property with Qatar’s former prime minister Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, according to The Intercept. But that deal also failed.
Kushner bought the building in 2007 for $1.8 billion in a mostly debt deal, but the housing crisis triggered financial setbacks for 666 Fifth Avenue, leading Vornado Realty Trust to take a 49.5 per cent stake in 2011.
“In all of Mr Kushner’s extensive cooperation with all inquiries, there has not been a single question asked nor document sought on the 666 building or Kushner Co. deals,” Kushner attorney Abbe Lowell told CNN. “