Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, in their roles as chairs of the Senate Finance Committee and House Oversight Committee, have launched an aggressive new effort to obtain information about whether Jared Kushner’s actions on U.S. policy in the Persian Gulf region were influenced by the bailout of 666 Fifth Avenue, a property owned by his family business. Via the Washington Post:
Citing previously undisclosed emails and other documents related to former president Donald Trump’s son-in-law, the committees on Monday night sent letters to the State and Defense departments requesting material that they say could shed new light on whether “Kushner’s financial conflict of interest may have led him to improperly influence U.S. tax, trade and national security policies for his own financial gain.”
The letters, obtained by The Washington Post, focus on efforts by Kushner and his father, Charles Kushner, to bail out a troubled 41-story Fifth Avenue office building in New York City. The Kushner company in 2018 made a deal with a Canadian company, Brookfield Asset Management, which invested $1.2 billion for a 99-year lease. As a result, the Kushner family company avoided defaulting on a loan that was due the following year.
Democrats have long raised questions about the deal because the Qatar Investment Authority, a sovereign wealth fund, had a stake in one of Brookfield’s investment arms.
Good to see this ramping up, now that Senate Dems will have oversight authority:
The committees’ letter this week marks the most aggressive request yet for new information. The committees are seeking all relevant correspondence related to the Kushner family company, Brookfield, the Qatari fund, the blockade and other matters.
In addition, the committees said, they are requesting any correspondence that refers to “Kushner seeking to influence, interfere with, or supersede the normal operations and responsibilities” of the State and Defense departments.