Jared Kushner Faces Hunter Biden Treatment as Democrats Turn the Screw

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the ranking member of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, is pushing for Jared Kushner's business dealings to be investigated by the panel with the same vigor as Republicans are probing the Biden family.

Speaking on MSNBC's All in With Chris Hayes, Raskin described how he is seeking "all the information" on the money that former president Donald Trump's son-in-law's firm received from Saudi Arabia and other countries in the same way that the committee is probing allegations that President Joe Biden previously benefited from his son Hunter Biden's business deals.

Kushner runs the private equity fund Affinity Partners. It was previously reported that the former White House aide's firm received a $2 billion investment from a fund led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman six months after he left office in January 2021.

The GOP-led House Oversight and Accountability Committee is currently investigating if Joe Biden used his influence while vice president to intervene in and benefit from his son's business dealings in Ukraine and China. These allegations have been denied by both the White House and Hunter Biden's lawyers.

Jared Kushner gestures as he attends the annual Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on October 25, 2022. House Oversight and Accountability Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin is hoping to probe Kushner's Saudi deals in the same manner as the panel is investigating the Biden family. FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP/Getty Images

"We know that Jared Kushner created a business the day after the Trump administration ended, and within a few months he had brought home billions of dollars from the Saudi government," Raskin said.

"So we want all the information in the same way that the committee is going for all the information about Hunter Biden, who after all, never worked for the government, was not in the Biden administration," Raskin said. "He is the adult, emancipated son of President Biden."

"They want all that information. We should get the information about Jared Kushner, who was not just President Trump's son-in-law, but he was actually managing Middle East foreign policy at the time," he added.

Kushner's office has been contacted for comment via email.

Raskin's interview came after the Democratic congressman wrote to the chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, Rep. James Comer (R-KY), to ask the panel to subpoena Kushner for documents about the money his investment firm received from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations. Raskin wrote the letter after Comer told CNN that Kushner "crossed the line of ethics" by accepting the $2 billion investment from the Saudi government, but still suggested the accusations aimed at the Bidens are more severe.

"I am encouraged by your recent acknowledgment that 'what Kushner did crossed the line of ethics' and your repeated assertions that our Committee is 'investigating 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 wrote.

"In light of these concerns, I urge you 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," he wrote.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the committee accused Raskin's letter of being "nothing more than an attempt to distract from the mounting evidence of Joe Biden's involvement in his family's influence peddling schemes."

"If Ranking Member Raskin was truly concerned about ethics in government, then he would join Republicans in our investigation of the Bidens' blatant corruption. However, Ranking Member Raskin is only concerned about playing Biden family defense lawyer," the statement said.