The White House is investigating two loans totaling $500 million given to senior Trump advisor and professional in-law Jared Kushner, according to a letter released Monday from the head of the Office of Government Ethics. The disclosure came in correspondence between the acting head of the federal government ethics agency and a Democratic lawmaker on the House Oversight Committee. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) requested advisory input from the ethics office earlier this month on the ethical and legal implications of Kushner’s White House meetings with executives from Apollo Global Management and Citigroup and the subsequent $184 million and $325 million loans (respectively) Kushner’s real estate company, Kushner Cos, received from the two financial institutions.
“I have discussed this matter with the White House Counsel’s Office in order to ensure that they have begun the process of ascertaining the facts necessary to determine whether any law or regulation has been violated,” David Apol, the acting director of the Office of Government Ethics, wrote on March 22nd. “During that discussion, the White House informed me that they had already begun this process.”
“After Mr. Trump won, Mr. Kushner resigned from the company and sold his personal stake in some projects and assets to family members and others, but he retains a stake in multiple Kushner Cos. properties, including those that received the Apollo and Citigroup loans,” according to the Wall Street Journal. “The White House’s examination of the loans to Kushner Cos. comes as the company is being investigated by the Brooklyn U.S. attorney’s office and the Securities and Exchange Commission over its use of a federal investment-for-visa program known as EB-5.”
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