Kushner sues over book
The former White House adviser's team is preparing litigation against the author of a book alleging $2 billion in hidden Gulf funds.
By Amina Kaminski ·
Jared Kushner’s legal team is preparing to sue the author of an upcoming book that alleges the former White House adviser controlled billions of dollars in hidden accounts funded by Gulf leaders. Kushner’s team is contesting the book’s claims that a hacked iPhone provided proof of these transfers.
The book, titled “Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed's Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East,” is set for release soon. An excerpt published Thursday in Vanity Fair details the core allegations. The text claims Dutch intelligence agents discovered in 2017 that Russian spies had accessed Kushner’s iPhone. According to the excerpt, the Dutch service captured the screen of the device and watched Kushner log into a United Arab Emirates account.
The report states that this account received hundreds of millions of dollars from a bank in Azerbaijan. It further asserts that leaders from Saudi Arabia and the UAE deposited at least $2 billion into several accounts tied to Kushner. One of these accounts, the excerpt claims, was held at Israel’s Central Bank. The book describes these funds as “slush money” intended to buy influence within the U.S. government.
The excerpt attributes the placement of roughly $1 billion into at least one account to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. A source described as a person with knowledge of the money said the allocation was for Kushner’s personal benefit. The text claims the accounts were often presented as official government bodies or charities, but the money was actually for off-the-books diplomatic objectives.
Kushner rejected the findings in a statement issued Thursday night. “The allegations made by this author are completely insane and never happened,” Kushner said. His team stated that they denied every claim on the record, but the author offered no verifiable evidence. The statement noted that the book provided no bank statements, wire transfer records, account numbers, or transaction dates.
Kushner’s attorney called the claims false and defamatory. The legal team announced plans to pursue legal action against those responsible for the allegations. The White House also issued a response through Steven Cheung, the director of White House communications. Writing on X, Cheung described the source book as complete fiction.
Cheung said the book was fabricated by a failed spy thriller writer. He argued that the text presents no documentation and relies only on mysterious words from unnamed sources. The book covers Kushner’s years as a senior adviser in the first Trump administration, a role in which he helped negotiate major foreign policy deals involving Israel, the Gulf states, China, and Russia.
