HOUSE PANEL EXAMINING KUSHNER OVER INVESTMENT
Saudi fund invested $2B in ex-adviser’s private equity firm
A House committee said Thursday that it was investigating whether Jared Kushner, former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and former adviser, traded on his government position to land a $2 billion investment in his new private equity firm from a prominent Saudi Arabian wealth fund.
Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-N.Y., who leads the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, gave Kushner a two-week deadline in a letter sent Thursday to furnish documents related to the Saudi fund’s investment last year in his firm, Affinity Partners. She also asked for any personal correspondence between Kushner and the Saudi kingdom’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, during or after the Trump administration.
The committee, Maloney wrote in the eight-page letter, is investigating “whether your personal financial interests improperly influenced U.S. foreign policy during the administration of your father-in-law, former President Trump.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for Kushner said, “While achieving six peace deals in the Middle East, Mr. Kushner fully abided by all legal and ethical guidelines both during and after his government service.
“He is proud to be among many private sector stakeholders advancing connectivity between Americans, Israelis and Arabs to encourage continued regional progress,” the statement continued.
A spokesperson for the Saudi government and the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the entity that made the $2 billion investment, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Thanks to congressional redistricting, Maloney, a veteran lawmaker from the Upper East Side of Manhattan, faces a tough primary fight against Rep. Jerrold Nadler, her longtime colleague and fellow Democrat from the Upper West Side. Nadler, who is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, played a prominent role in Trump’s two impeachment hearings and has campaigned on his role as a critic of the Trump administration.
Maloney’s letter refers to disclosures, first published by The New York Times in early April, that the Saudi government’s main sovereign wealth fund invested $2 billion in Kushner’s firm despite objections from one of its own internal committees over his lack of relevant investment experience. That investment occurred less than six months after Kushner left his post in the White House — a role that had given him broad oversight of the administration’s diplomacy efforts in the Middle East.
During his time in government, Kushner developed a close rapport with Crown Prince Mohammed, even as the prince faced criticism over his human rights record and Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen. Later, when the planned $2 billion investment in Kushner’s private equity firm encountered skepticism from Public Investment Fund officials, a fund board led by Crown Prince Mohammed voted to approve it anyway.
Ethics experts have raised concerns about the Saudi fund’s investment in Kushner’s firm, which according to filings appears to account for the vast majority of its $2.5 billion in assets. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, DMass., has urged the Justice Department to “take a really hard look” at whether Kushner violated any criminal laws.