The House Oversight Committee has launched an investigation into a $2 billion investment by the Saudi government into a firm formed by Jared Kushner after he left the White House last year.
In a letter to Kushner, Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y. said that her committee is looking into the investment by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund, which is controlled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, into Kushner's firm Affinity.
Former president Donald Trump, Maloney wrote in a letter, "The investigation will focus on whether Kushner's personal financial interests improperly impacted U.S. foreign policy while he served in the White House under his father-in- law.
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, Maloney wrote.
Representatives for Affinity and Kushner did not immediately return requests for comment. A spokesman for Kushner said in a statement to the newspaper that while achieving six peace deals in the Middle East, Mr. Kushner fully abides by all legal and ethical guidelines during and after his government service. Maloney said that the investigation will help inform the committee if federal ethics laws need to be strengthened so that senior public officials can't take advantage of their government roles to benefit financially.
She noted that Kushner created his investment firm the day after Trump left the White House in January 2021, and the Saudi government gave it $2 billion six months later.
The Committee is concerned by the decision to solicit billions of dollars from the Saudi government immediately following your significant involvement in shaping U.S.- Saudi relations, Maloney said, as well as his pro-Saudi positions during the Trump administration and Saudi government funding make the appearance of a quid pro quo for your foreign policy work during the Trump administration. Maloney wants Kushner and his firm to produce documents, including records and personal communications, by June 16.