A congressional panel will investigate whether former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner used his White House position to leverage a $2 billion investment from a Saudi Arabian wealth fund.
In notifying Mr. Kushner of their probe, the House Oversight Committee requested he turn over documents related to the deal made between his firm, A Fin Management, and the Saudi government.
“This investigation will inform the committee about whether federal ethics laws should be strengthened to prevent senior public officials from taking advantage of their position within the federal government to reap a financial windfall — before, during, or after government employment,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat who chairs the panel.
Ms. Maloney added that the investigation will look at whether Mr. Kushner’s personal financial interests may have influenced U.S. foreign policy, calling his support for Saudi interests “unwavering.”
“Your support for Saudi interests was unwavering, even as Congress and the rest of the world closely scrutinized the country’s human rights abuses in Yemen, the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi assassins tied to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Saudi Arabia’s crackdown on political dissidents at home,” Ms. Maloney said.
The notice went to Mr. Kushner on Thursday.
Mr. Kushner is married to Mr. Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump, who also served as a White House adviser.
The committee said that six months after Mr. Kushner left his job at the White House, he secured a $2 billion investment from the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the main wealth fund of Saudi Arabia.
PIF is led by the crown prince, who had a close relationship with Mr. Kushner while he was working in the Trump administration.
• Mica Soellner can be reached at msoellner@washingtontimes.com.
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