Jared Kushner, a former senior adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, is seeking removal of a Vanity Fair excerpt about alleged foreign-linked banking activity, attorney Chad Mizelle said days before the book’s release.
In an Oct. 24 post on X, Mizelle said Kushner’s team asked the magazine to remove the excerpt and preserve related records. The post said the notice also went to Condé Nast, Vanity Fair’s parent. The magazine published the excerpt on Oct. 22.
Author Matthew Cole’s excerpt says Dutch intelligence linked activity on Kushner’s phone to his use of a United Arab Emirates bank account. Cole identifies Watani Al Emarat Foundation as the owner and manager of an account at First Abu Dhabi Bank, and says Kushner had signatory authority.
Cole attributes deposits of about $750 million to Saudi and Emirati sources, beginning in 2017. He separately alleges that roughly $1 billion reached Israel through Azerbaijan by spring 2018. The excerpt also alleges at least $2 billion across accounts, but does not explain how that total relates to the two estimates, which add up to about $1.75 billion.
Cole’s account places the alleged activity in the context of discussions about a proposed foreign-policy fund involving Mohamed bin Zayed of the UAE and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The excerpt says the proposal later gave way to accounts linked to Kushner. These claims are disputed by Kushner.
Kushner rejected the allegations in a post on X, calling them “completely insane” and saying they never happened. In a letter dated Aug. 10, his counsel Alejandro Brito denied that Kushner knew of or was involved with the alleged accounts. “There are no accounts and never were,” Brito wrote.
The demand follows EconoTimes’ earlier coverage of Kushner’s denial. Simon & Schuster lists Princes and Thieves for publication on Oct. 27.
