Lawmaker urges House probe into Saudi billions given to Jared Kushner firm

Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Maryland's Rep. Jamie Raskin on Thursday urged the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability to subpoena Jared Kushner's private investment firm Affinity Partners regarding billions of dollars it got from the Saudis and other Middle East monarchies.

Kushner's company got $2 billion from the Saudi government two months after leaving his White House position as a senior adviser to former President Donald Trump, Kushner's father in law.

Raskin said public reporting revealed United Arab Emirates and Qatar each also invested $200 million with Affinity.

Raskin wants House oversight committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky,, to approve subpoenas for Kushner's company consistent with Comer's stated desire to investigate the influence foreign nationals have on high-ranking U.S. officials and their families.

In a letter to Comer, Raskin urged him " to pursue a serious and objective investigation by issuing a subpoena to Affinity and requiring the firm to comply with my February 15, 2023, request for documents regarding its receipt of billions of dollars from Gulf monarchies shortly after Mr. Kushner left a senior White House position he used to reshape U.S. foreign policy toward Saudi Arabia and the Middle East in Saudi Arabia's favor -- a request you have thus far allowed Mr. Kushner to ignore and defy."

Raskin's letter said his request comes after a CNN appearance in which Comer acknowledged Kushner "crossed the line of ethics" by accepting the Saudi money.

When Democrats controlled the oversight committee in June 2022, then-Chair former Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., notified Kushner the committee was investigating the Saudi deal. She requested documents related to the Saudi's $2 billion Affinity Partners investment.

"The committee on oversight and reform is investigating whether you have improperly traded your government position to obtain billions of dollars from the Saudi government and whether your personal financial interests improperly influenced U.S. foreign policy during the administration of your father-in-law," Maloney wrote at the time.

Comer's committee began investigating President Joe Biden's family in January when Republicans took control of the House, but it has so far shown no interest in investigating a relative of former President Donald Trump getting $2 billion from the Saudis after leaving a White House position that dealt with Middle East governments and interests.

According to Raskin, Affinity reported in March 2023 that it had more than $3 billion in assets under management, 99% of it "attributable to clients who are non-United States persons."

Comer's committee has been targeting Hunter Biden and President Biden for the younger Biden's foreign business dealings while saying the committee wants to investigate foreign nationals' attempts to target and coerce high-ranking U.S. officials' family members by providing money or other benefits in exchange for certain actions.

Raskin maintains that, if the committee is truly interested in investigating that behavior, it needs to look into Kushner being given $2 billion in investments by the Saudis just two months after leaving his White House position.