An Investigation led by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) has discovered what He sees as New Red Flags surrounding the Equity Fund of former Trump’s Son-in-Law Jared Kushner.
In Three years of work, Kushner’s Fund, "Affinity Partners", has taken billions from Foreign Investors and over $100 million in Investment Fees. Yet in that time, Wyden points out in a Letter to Affinity, the Firm has Not “distributed a penny of earnings back to clients.” Wyden now Warns that Kushner’s Fund’s behavior is lending weight to Suspicions that have existed since Affinity’s Founding: that it was a potential tool for foreign governments to curry favor with a possible future Trump Administration.
“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 the Letter to Affinity. “Affinity’s failure to deploy capital in a timely fashion while charging excessive fees has reinforced my view that Affinity is likely part of a compensation scheme involving U.S. political figures designed to circumvent the Foreign Agents Registration Act.”
Chad Mizelle, Affinity Partners’ Chief Legal Officer, has Denied Accusations that the Fund has behaved Inappropriately or Failed to Comply with any Laws.
Of the $3 billion the Fund has Secured for Investment, 99% comes from Overseas Sources, mostly the Saudi Government’s Public Investment Fund. The Private Equity Industry Research Firm PitchBook, “found that most private equity firms started to pay at least some profits within 2.5 years.”
That Kushner’s Fund hasn’t Distributed Earnings yet doesn’t necessarily mean it is doing something Untoward, but it does raise Questions, especially given the History of the Fund. The Nature of Saudi Arabia’s Investment in Kushner’s Fund set off Alarm Bells years ago. In 2022, a Screening Panel for the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund expressed several Concerns about Investing in Kushner’s fledging Private Equity Fund, including:
The inexperience of the Affinity Fund Management; the possibility that the kingdom would be responsible for ‘the bulk of the investment and risk’; Due Diligence on the fledgling Firm’s Operations that found them ‘Unsatisfactory in all aspects’; a proposed Asset Management Fee that ‘seems excessive’; and ‘public relations risks’ from Mr. Kushner’s prior Role as a Senior Adviser to His Father-in-Law, former President Donald J. Trump, according to Minutes of the Panel’s Meeting last June 30th.
But despite this Laundry List of concerns about investing with Kushner, whose past experience was in Real Estate, not Private Equity, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman went ahead and Invested $2 billion.
The Investment was so Large and so Financially Imprudent that, it prompted Pbservers to ask whether it was the Returning of a Favor. Kushner and Salman, often known as MBS, reportedly formed a Close Relationship during the Trump Administration, and Kushner reportedly defended MBS in the White House after Saudi Government Agents Murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. At the same time, there is a question as to whether MBS could view the Investment as a down payment on an extra Saudi-friendly Future Trump Administration.
Kushner has said any Delay in Investing Funds was the Result of Market Conditions. But it is Impossible to rule out an informal Quid-Pro-Quo type of Dynamic in the whole Arrangement.
Kushner’s Fund is a convenient Vessel for Saudi Arabia, and Investors from other Gulf States, including Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, to signal Support for Kushner, and thus Trump. Kushner has said He won’t Serve in another TrumpAadministration, but He’s still part of Trump’s Family, and He has a Direct Line to Trump to Advise Him Informally.
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