Congress To Question Jared Kushner Over Possible Russia Financial Bailout
Congress Wants To Know If Kushner Tried To Get Finacial Bailout From Russia.
It has been well reported that Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner is in financial trouble with a building he purchased in New York City. Kushner is underwater on the property with at least $1.4 billion in loans, which are coming due in the next two years.
However, Kushner is unable to repay the loans with the rents that building is bringing in.
And now Congress wants to know if Kushner sought a financial bailout from Russia to help him with his troubled investment.
According to NBC News, when Kushner ends up being questioned by Congress, he is “expected to be asked is whether he tried to set up a secret back channel way of communicating with the Russians so he could find somebody in Moscow to take the 41-story tower at 666 Fifth Ave. off his family’s hands, two Congressional sources with direct knowledge of the investigation.”
As the NBC report notes despite being praised publically by his father-in-law for being a successful real estate investor, “Kushner and his family real estate firm took a bath when they bought the building back in January 2007 for what was then a record price for a Manhattan building — $1.8 billion.”
“Kushner Companies has been bleeding money ever since, according to numerous published reports.”
The Congressional questioning will likely center around a meeting Kushner had with the head of a Russian state-run bank in December. The bank is currently under sanctions by the United States. After the meeting, the bank CEO flew directly to Japan where Vladimir Putin was attending events.
Congressional investigators will also focus on the revelation that Kushner tried to set up a secret backchannel between the Trump team and Moscow. Kushner suggested using Russian diplomatic communications facilities in order to avoid U.S. intelligence oversight.
The White House has said that Kushner met with the Russian banker in his capacity as a transition official, however, the bank has said the meeting was to discuss business opportunities with Kushner as the head of his family’s company.
You can read the full NBC News report here.
