Kushner firm may be front to 'funnel foreign government money' to Trump family: Senate Dem

25 September 2024

One Senate Democrat investigating the company headed by Jared Kushner — former President Donald Trump's son-in-law (husband of Ivanka Trump) and onetime White House senior advisor — is suggesting the firm may simply be a vehicle for accepting gifts from other governments.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) recently asked numerous questions of Kushner's Miami, Florida-based Affinity Partners firm in a letter sent earlier this week: Namely, why the company has yet to pay out any dividends to investors despite pulling in more than $3 billion since 2021.

According to the Times, More than 99% of the $3 billion Kushner's company has taken in since it was launched is from foreign governments — including roughly $2 billion just from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. Other foreign governments that have contributed include the sovereign wealth funds of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Taiwan-based billionaire Terry Gou, who founded tech manufacturer Foxconn. An additional "mystery" investor that Affinity has not revealed to the public is also reportedly a stakeholder in the firm.

"Affinity’s investors may not be motivated by commercial considerations but rather the opportunity to funnel foreign government money to members of President Trump’s family, namely Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump," Wyden wrote in his letter. He notably observed Kushner's company hadn't "distributed a penny of earnings back to clients."

"A potential future Trump administration will have financial motives to make foreign policy decisions that may be counter to the national interest in order to ensure Kushner and Ivanka Trump continue to collect millions of dollars in fees from foreign governments through Affinity," Wyden added. "Unfortunately, Affinity declined to provide information as to how these conflicts of interest will be addressed should former President Trump be elected to a second term in office."

The company's spokesperson responded in a statement that it was following all regulations as required by law, and that Wyden's letter was a "political move."

"Partisan politics aside, Affinity Partners is an SEC-registered investment firm that has always acted appropriately and any suggestion to the contrary is false," Affinity chief legal officer Chad Mizelle stated. "We are fortunate to have the support of some of the world's most sophisticated investors and work hard on their behalf every day."

One particular project that has come under congressional scrutiny is Kushner's plans to develop land in the Baltic region, including plans for a luxury resort in Albania and a hotel development in the Serbian capital of Belgrade. His business partner in those ventures is Richard Grenell, who is Trump's former acting Director of National Intelligence. Patagonia CEO Ryan Zellert had particular concerns about what Kushner's plans to develop protected acreage in the Zvernec region of Albania would do to the local ecosystem.

"It is a stunning area, unique across the Mediterranean," Zellert said in August. "And the idea of them developing this, particularly in the absence of a master plan, is a really bad idea."

Click here to read the Times' report in full (subscription required).

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