Former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner courted controversy over the $2 billion investment his private-equity fund Affinity Partners received from a Saudi investment fund backed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) in a recent media appearance revealed why Democrats did not launch an investigation into the investment when the Democratic Party controlled the Senate in 2020 and 2021.
What Happened? Raskin said Kushner’s crime came to light after Trump stepped down from office. “Well, remember, Jared's essential crime against the constitutional republic came right after the Trump administration ended,” he said in an interview with MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan, Mediaite reported.
“It was, I think, the day after it ended that he created the corporation which he proceeded to endow with two billion dollars from the homicidal crown prince of Saudi Arabia, and then other sovereign wealth funds from Gulf monarchs,” he added.
The Congressman’s statement came in response to the host pointing out that the former called upon the House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky) to investigate Kushner’s foreign business dealings, especially with the Saudis.
Raskin noted that even Comer agreed that Kushner crossed an “ethical line.”
“All we're saying is, look, Jared Kushner was actually working in the White House. He was in the administration. Hunter Biden was never in the Biden administration,” he added.
“What we're trying to find out is, exactly what did Saudi Arabia get out of this arrangement, and what is the nature of all the money that's been pouring in,” Raskin said. He also said the Trump administration helped Saudi cover up the assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and they were aligned with the Middle East nation in the Yemen war.
“But look, we're gonna do a complete report on foreign government emoluments that were pocketed by Donald Trump and we're still trying to torture out the information, which we've never gotten,” he added,
Why It’s Important: The unusual nature of Kushner’s Saudi deal has confounded many. Investor and economic analyst Steven Rattner shared a chart on X, formerly Twitter, showing a breakdown of the sources from which Kushner’s Affinity Partners received its assets under management.
The chart showed that about 64.5% of the AUM came from Saudi Arabia while U.S. investors contributed only a paltry amount of $31 million.
"I have been in this business for 40 years. I’ve never seen somebody get two-thirds of their money from a single investor, " Rattner said.
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