Since it is paywalled:
Yes, THAT James Comer.Jared Kushner set up last year at Tel Aviv’s Hilton Hotel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, aiming to spend some of the $3 billion that Gulf nations had pledged for him to invest…
Kushner left Tel Aviv last spring without writing any checks.
More than a year later, while collecting millions in management fees, Kushner says he is just now poised to invest in his first Israeli company.
Kushner admits that he has been slow to sign deals and sees that as savvy business sense…
“Deployment has been slower than expected because we maintained high standards,” Kushner said. “In retrospect, I’m glad we didn’t follow the herd.”…
Kushner and Mohammed developed an unusually close relationship while Trump was in the White House. In a memoir released last year, Kushner wrote that he repeatedly called the Saudi crown prince to secure help on key U.S. foreign policy issues, including oil prices. Kushner’s appeals created intense friction in the Trump administration, with then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson accusing Trump’s son-in-law of undercutting his authority…
When pressed on the issue, some Republicans have criticized Kushner, who had little experience in the field when he started Affinity.
“I think that what Kushner did crossed the line of ethics,” Rep. James Comer (R., Ky.) said earlier this month on CNN.
Why does he say that? Perhaps because Jared Kushner is pocketing tens of millions of dollars per year to do nothing with Saudi money?
It turns out that only 1% of Jared Kushner's new $3 BILLION dollar slush fund comes from American sources, 99% of it is from foreign entities. Is this normal for investment firms? Well...Saudi Arabia invested $2 billion with Kushner, making it Affinity’s largest investor. The kingdom agreed to pay Kushner tens of millions in management fees each year—even if he didn’t invest the money, said some Saudi officials involved in the deal.
The arrangement isn’t uncommon in the industry, but some Saudi officials viewed it as inappropriate for someone of his experience level. Mohammed overruled those concerns, said the Saudis involved in the deal.
Critics say that Kushner’s ability to collect substantial fees while
making few investments fuels concerns that the Saudi money was payback for helping the kingdom in the White House and an effort to secure access to the Trump family if Trump returns to the White House in 2025.
“It appears to be money for nothing,” said Norm Eisen, a senior fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. “In the absence of material transactions, this goes beyond a raised eyebrow to profound concerns about possible impropriety and quid pro quos.”…
Economic analyst Steven Rattner on Monday shared a pie chart showing that all but 1% of the $3 billion in investments in former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner’s private equity firm Affinity Partners came from foreign sources after he “spent much of his White House tenure cozying up” to Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman. The Saudis invested $2 billion in Kushner’s fund while the United Arab Emirates and Qatar each added another $200 million. About $625 million came from other non-U.S. sources while only $31 million came from sources inside the U.S. Rattner told MSNBC that he’s “never seen this” in 40 years in the business.
“I’ve never seen somebody get two-thirds of their money from a single investor. Usually a single investor might be a few percent of the fund, might be 5 percent, occasionally 10 percent,” he said. While Kushner has hired some people for his fund, “I’ve seen nothing else about what he’s actually done with the money,” Rattner continued.
“It is normal to invest this money over a period of several years, so I don’t think we can draw a firm conclusion yet. But, again, we’re going back to a guy who’s a real estate guy, and frankly, not a particularly good one at that, who’s suddenly got $3 billion trying to do private equity deals competing against people who’ve been in this business for a long time. And I wouldn’t, if I were the Saudis, count on making a lot of money from this any time soon,” he said, adding: “U.S. private equity firms still raise the vast bulk of their money from U.S. investors. This is extraordinary — unprecedented — I’ve never seen anything like it.”
And last but not least, Jared and Ivanka seem to be gearing up to protect their Saudi gravy train this election cycle: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/07 ... p-campaign
According to Trump advisers, Ivanka and Kushner have been more visible lately, stoking speculation that the pair could take an active role in Trump’s 2024 campaign. They have been living at their cottage on the grounds of Bedminster, sources said. And last month Ivanka attended her father’s birthday dinner, a source added. “They’ve been spotted more frequently this summer,” a top campaign strategist told me. “They’ve made it clear they’re supportive. They pop into meetings to say hi.” Trump advisers cautioned that, at least for now, Kushner and Ivanka are only engaging as members of the Trump family and are not participating in an official advisory capacity.
. . .
But with Trump dominating the 2024 Republican primary, some sources suggested Kushner and Ivanka might hop on the Trump train. “Now that the president is 40 points ahead, of course Jared is pretending he’s involved. If he’s president again, Jared needs to protect his turf, especially in the Middle East,” a former Trump administration official said.
