Sen. Wyden says Kushner "is literally on the payroll of the Saudi government"
Ron WydenRanking Member of the Senate Committee on Finance, in a release from House Oversight Democrats
In the same March 19, 2026 release, Sen. Ron Wyden, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said Kushner "is literally on the payroll of the Saudi government and trying to take even more of their money while simultaneously hijacking U.S. foreign policy with his shadow State Department." He also called Kushner and the administration "wildly corrupt". The letters Wyden co-signed ask Affinity and the White House for information; they contain allegations and document requests, not findings.
Responding to
It appears that while Jared Kushner is representing the U.S. government in negotiations in the Middle East, he is simultaneously seeking to raise at least $5 billion in additional foreign capital for Affinity Partners, which Rep. Robert Garcia and Sen. Ron Wyden say raises the potential for conflicts of interest that could threaten national security.
“Jared Kushner makes up for his flaws as an investor by being a wildly corrupt appendage of his father-in-law’s wildly corrupt administration. The guy is literally on the payroll of the Saudi government and trying to take even more of their money while simultaneously hijacking U.S. foreign policy with his shadow State Department. The U.S. becomes less safe and more corrupt every day Jared Kushner remains involved in our political system”
Official statement
Original text
Reporting
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
Official statement
About this source
The House Oversight Democrats' release announcing the two letters of March 19, 2026. It carries one quotation each from Rep. Robert Garcia and Sen. Ron Wyden and describes earlier Oversight Democrat inquiries into Kushner.
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About this source
Wyden's letter reports what Affinity told Finance Committee staff about its foreign investors: about $3 billion committed, $2 billion from the Saudi Public Investment Fund and the rest from five other foreign investors, including sovereign wealth funds of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, with a five-year investment period ending in August 2026. The letter also states Wyden's own view that the arrangements create conflicts of interest.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Reporting
About this source
The Times's report on the March 19 letters, reposted in full on the website of one of the letters' authors, Rep. Robert Garcia, under 'In the News.' We read it there because the Times page was not available to us. It carries the responses of Affinity's chief legal officer and a White House spokeswoman, and the Times's own statement that Kushner 'holds no official government role.'
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
In a September 24, 2024 letter, Wyden reported that Affinity told Finance Committee staff the Saudi Public Investment Fund pays a 1.25 percent fee on $2 billion committed from June 2021 through August 2026.
After the quotation
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told the Times the letters were "the same, tired narrative that Democrats have pushed against President Trump, his family and his administration for a decade," and Affinity's chief legal officer said the firm "abided by all laws and regulations."
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. Wyden says Kushner is "literally on the payroll of the Saudi government" while "hijacking U.S. foreign policy", which asserts that the business and the policy role are entangled and denounces the arrangement, so we used Condemned. The closest competing label is Challenged the characterization. It loses because Wyden criticizes the conduct itself rather than disputing how it is described.
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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
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- The Dispute Index
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- Sen. Wyden says Kushner "is literally on the payroll of the Saudi government"
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- https://disputeindex.com/events/4564-in-the-same-march-19-2026-release-sen
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "Sen. Wyden says Kushner "is literally on the payroll of the Saudi government"". First published: 2026-10-05. Last updated: 2026-10-05. https://disputeindex.com/events/4564-in-the-same-march-19-2026-release-sen