Kushner disputes claim of $2 billion in secret Gulf funds
A new book alleges that Dutch intelligence found hacked records showing Middle Eastern leaders moved billions to accounts tied to the former White House adviser.
By Emmanuel Obasi ·
Jared Kushner has formally rejected a book that claims he accessed more than $2 billion in secret funds from Middle Eastern leaders.
The allegations appear in an excerpt of a new book by journalist Matthew Cole titled 'Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed's Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East.' The text describes a network of slush money accounts that the author says were used to buy influence within the U.S. government.
The report states that Dutch intelligence agents discovered in 2017 that Russia had compromised Kushner's iPhone. After turning a Russian spy, the Dutch service gained access to the device and monitored its screen. They allegedly watched Kushner log into a United Arab Emirates account that had received hundreds of millions of dollars from a bank in Azerbaijan.
The book claims that Saudi Arabia and the UAE deposited at least $2 billion into several bank accounts linked to Kushner. One of these accounts was reportedly held at Israel's Central Bank. The text argues that these funds were managed by entities presented as charities or government bodies, but were actually intended for off-the-books diplomatic objectives, including brokering an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Kushner and his legal team issued statements on Thursday night to dispute the narrative. Kushner called the allegations insane and stated that his side had denied every claim on the record. He noted that the author provided no bank statements, wire transfer records, account numbers, or transaction dates to support the story.
His attorney described the claims as false and defamatory, adding that they plan to pursue legal action against those responsible. The White House also responded through Steven Cheung, the director of communications. Cheung called the book complete fiction and criticized the author for relying on mysterious words from unnamed sources rather than documentation.
The excerpt covers Kushner's tenure as a senior adviser in the first Trump administration, during which he played a leading role in U.S. policy toward the Middle East. CBS News has not independently verified the details in the published text.
Source: CBS News
