Dems: ‘Significant questions’ about Kushner loans

Prominent Democrats are pressing for more information about White House adviser Jared Kushner’s involvement in loans made last year to Kushner Companies, saying there are “significant questions” about the transactions.

The Kushner family real-estate business, Kushner Companies, received loans worth more than $500 million from Citigroup and the private equity firm Apollo Global Management after officials had multiple White House meetings with Kushner, according to The New York Times.

The Times reported that the loan Apollo made to Kushner Companies was three times the size of the average loan given by its real-estate unit. 

Kushner Companies and the two lenders say meetings were not related to the loans and deny that the financing was related to Kushner’s position in the White House.

In letters sent Monday to Kushner Companies and the White House counsel’s office, four Democrats — Rep. Elijah Cummings (Md.), the ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Tom Carper (Del.) and Gary Peters (Mich.) — questioned whether the real estate company has benefitted from Kushner’s position in the White House. 

“If true, these reports raise significant questions about what was discussed in these meetings, the terms of these loans, and what Mr. Kushner knew about Kushner Companies’ solicitations for financial assistance,” the Democrats wrote in the letter to Kushner Companies. 

The Democrats asked Kushner Companies to provide by March 16 information about the terms of the loans from Citigroup and Apollo, as well as information on any investments sought and received by the company since the 2016 election.

In the separate letter, addressed to Stefan Passantino, a deputy counsel to the president and designated agency ethics official, the Democrats asked for information about Kushner’s divestment from Kushner Companies. They also requested a detailed description of the meetings he had with the two lenders, among other things. 

The Democrats said previous inquires to the White House about Kushner’s business holdings went unanswered.

“In the meantime, Mr. Kushner appears to have maintained his financial holdings in Kushner Companies over the course of his first year serving in the White House,” they wrote.

The report of the loans came one day after Kushner had his White House security clearance downgraded, and following a report in The Washington Post that foreign governments have sought to “manipulate” the adviser’s connections to Kushner Companies.

Kushner’s business dealings are reportedly under scrutiny from special counsel Robert Mueller as Mueller continues his investigation into possible ties between Russia and the Trump campaign — including Kushner’s role in the campaign — during the 2016 election.