Senior Democrat pushes to revive probe into Jared Kushner’s foreign cash

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox

Get our free Inside Washington email

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee has asked the panel’s chairman to compel ex-Trump White House adviser Jared Kushner’s investment firm to disclose information about the funding it has received from foreign countries.

In a letter to Chairman James Comer, Ranking Member Jamie Raskin asked the Kentucky Republican to approve a subpoena to Mr Kushner’s firm, A Fin Management LLC, regarding what he described as “extraordinary funding” which the relatively new investment venture took in from Saudi Arabian and Qatari sovereign wealth funds in the months after Mr Kushner and his father-in-law, former president Donald Trump, left the White House.

Mr Raskin said efforts by Democrats on the Oversight Committee, some dating back to mid 2022, have been unsuccessful in obtaining the information he and his colleagues are seeking because Mr Kushner and his company “have refused to cooperate with our requests” for “relevant documents to understand the full scope of Mr Kushner’s foreign business dealings and the legal, constitutional, and ethical problems they create”.

“I am encouraged by your recent acknowledgement that “what Kushner did crossed the line of ethics” and your repeated assertions that our Committee is “investigating foreign nationals’ attempts to target and coerce high-ranking U.S. officials’ family members by providing money or other benefits in exchange for certain actions,” he wrote.

“I therefore urge you to use the Committee’s subpoena power to compel Affinity to produce the information this Committee needs to conduct a full and fair investigation into whether Mr Kushner improperly used his position as a senior government official to benefit his personal financial and business interests — information Mr. Kushner and Affinity have unjustifiably refused to produce for over a year”.

“At the time Mr. Kushner transitioned from the White House to the private sector, diplomats and ethics experts raised their concerns about the glaring potential conflicts of interest arising from Mr. Kushner’s financial interests in the Gulf region. Moreover, his extensive and successful courting of sovereign wealth funds raises significant legal, constitutional, and ethical questions, given his key governmental role shaping U.S. foreign policy during the Trump Administration,” he added.

Mr Raskin also noted that multiple news outlets have reported that Mr Kushner’s post-White House business venture now controls approximately $3bn in assets, with 99 per cent of that amount “attributable to clients who are non-United States persons”.

He added that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s reported personal intervention to ensure the Saudi sovereign wealth fund invested with Mr Kushner “raises the significant possibility that there was a large quid pro quo shaping Mr Kushner’s official actions in the White House,” given the ex-Trump aide’s work to “dramatically recast U.S. foreign policy toward Saudi Arabia,” and cited Mr Kushner’s support for bin Salman in the wake of the state-sanctioned murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, as well as his support for Saudi Arabia’s blockade of Qatar, a major US ally.

“These and other actions taken by Mr. Kushner both during and after his time in the White House raise significant concerns that he repeatedly and primarily used his role as a senior government official to benefit his own personal financial interests,” Mr Raskin said.