Rep. Raskin writes that Kushner's two roles create "a glaring and incurable conflict of interest"
Jamie RaskinRanking Member of the House Committee on the Judiciary, in a letter to Jared Kushner
In an April 16, 2026 letter to Jared Kushner at Affinity Partners, Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, wrote that Kushner's decision to act in two roles, one public for the government and one private, "creates a glaring and incurable conflict of interest." The letter says Affinity raised billions of dollars from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, "often then turning around and investing those very same funds in Israeli companies closely tied to the military and defense establishment." It names no Israeli company and asks for records by April 30.
Responding to
Jared Kushner's simultaneous roles as Special Envoy for Peace and chief executive of Affinity Partners, which has raised billions of dollars from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, create a glaring and incurable conflict of interest.
“From the standpoint of the American people, your decision to act in these two roles—one public for the government and one private for personal profit—creates a glaring and incurable conflict of interest. … Between 2021 and 2026, you raised into your investment firm billions of dollars in new investments from leading Middle Eastern monarchies Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates—often then turning around and investing those very same funds in Israeli companies closely tied to the military and defense establishment.”
Original text
Original text
Where this statement fits
Does Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners conflict with his role in Middle East negotiations, as congressional Democrats and ethics groups say?
Jared Kushner founded the investment firm Affinity Partners in January 2021. Since 2025 he has taken part in U.S. diplomatic talks on Gaza, Iran and Ukraine. Congressional Democrats, the ethics group CREW and other critics say the two roles conflict. They point to the firm's funding from foreign governments, its stakes in Israeli companies and reports that it sought new capital while he negotiated. Kushner, his lawyers, Affinity and the White House dispute that. A CNN investigation published October 1, 2026 reported that Affinity is the largest shareholder in the Israeli insurer Phoenix Financial, which holds stakes in companies that supply Israel's military, and that CNN found no indication his diplomacy directly affected the investments it reviewed. Kushner replied on October 2 that Phoenix is not a defense company and that he has no role in its investment decisions. The White House says he works on a volunteer basis. As of October 4, 2026, we did not find a ruling or finding on the question from a court, agency or committee, and we could not locate a response from Kushner to two letters from Rep. Jamie Raskin.
Source and context
Original text
About this source
A letter from the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee to Jared Kushner at Affinity Partners, with a news release dated April 17. It asks for 15 categories of records by April 30, 2026, including communications with Saudi, Emirati, Qatari and Israeli officials and records about Affinity's investors and fund investments. It says the committee is investigating, but it is a request from the minority side and carries no compulsory process. The letter names no Israeli company; its sentence about Israeli companies closely tied to the military and defense establishment cites a 2024 New York Times article.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Original text
About this source
A follow-up from the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. It says Kushner did not answer the April 16 letter and that committee staff received no response to a May 7, 2026 email to Affinity's chief legal officer, Ian Brekke. It expands the requests to a land purchase in Albania and to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and sets a September 7, 2026 deadline. A news release followed on August 25.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Rep. Robert Garcia and Sen. Ron Wyden had written to the White House and Affinity on March 19. The White House had named Kushner to the Board of Peace's executive board on January 16, and President Trump had said on February 19 that he was making Kushner an envoy.
After the quotation
The letter asked for records by April 30, 2026. Raskin's August 24 letter says Kushner did not respond and that Affinity did not answer a May 7 email from committee staff. As of October 4, 2026, we could not locate a public reply from Kushner or Affinity.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is the proposition that Kushner's private business through Affinity, including its Israeli investments and Gulf capital, creates a conflict of interest with his role in U.S. Middle East negotiations. The letter states that the two roles create "a glaring and incurable conflict of interest" and cites the Gulf funding and the Israeli investments as grounds, so we used Condemned. The closest competing label is Challenged the characterization. It loses because the letter does more than dispute a description: it says the arrangement is a conflict.
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More from this case
Read the full caseKushner says "Phoenix is not a defense company" and that he has "no role in deciding what Phoenix buys or sells"
“CNN published a deeply misleading story and headline suggesting that my diplomatic work in the Middle East somehow benefited investments in Israeli defense companies. But CNN’s own reporting says otherwise. Buried behind a paywall, it acknowledges: “CNN found no indication that Kushner’s actions as a diplomat directly affected the investments reviewed.” Phoenix is not a defense company. It is one of Israel’s largest publicly traded financial institutions, highly regulated and managing approximately $220 billion across thousands of investments. Think of Phoenix as the Israeli equivalent of Vanguard or Fidelity. It manages the retirement savings of millions of Israelis. The savers don’t choose the individual investments, and neither do I. I have no role in deciding what Phoenix buys or sells. It has performed very well for Affinity and our investors, up more than five times since our initial investment. Affinity is an SEC-registered investment firm. Our investment in Phoenix is public and dates to before President Trump was re-elected and before I returned to public service. Affinity does not own the defense companies highlighted in CNN’s story. Those facts make for a less provocative headline, but a much more accurate story. Misleading stories will not distract me from the work President Trump asked me to do: help end wars, bring people together and pursue peace. That work is too important.”Read statement
The White House says Kushner's "personal business activities have nothing to do with his diplomatic engagements"
“Jared Kushner’s personal business activities have nothing to do with his diplomatic engagements, which he conducts on a volunteer basis at the President’s request”Read statement
CREW's chief ethics counsel tells CNN "the people profiting should not be the people making the decisions to make that policy"
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
“There are always people who profit from war or government policies. The difference is that the people profiting should not be the people making the decisions to make that policy. And that is what is happening here”Read statement
Cite this record
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- The Dispute Index
- Title
- Rep. Raskin writes that Kushner's two roles create "a glaring and incurable conflict of interest"
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- https://disputeindex.com/events/4562-in-an-april-16-2026-letter-to-jared
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "Rep. Raskin writes that Kushner's two roles create "a glaring and incurable conflict of interest"". First published: 2026-10-05. Last updated: 2026-10-05. https://disputeindex.com/events/4562-in-an-april-16-2026-letter-to-jared