CREW's president tells a House subcommittee that the "potential for conflicts of interest is staggering" in Kushner's case
Donald K. ShermanPresident and Chief Executive Officer of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, in written testimony to a House subcommittee
On September 15, 2026, Donald K. Sherman, president and chief executive of CREW, submitted written testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South and Central Asia. On Kushner, he wrote that his private investment firm "is engaged in significant businesses with some of the same foreign partners he is working with in his governmental role", that the "potential for conflicts of interest is staggering", and that although Kushner is "legally required" to file a public disclosure statement, "there is no publicly available evidence that he has done so". This is Sherman's account. As of October 4, 2026, we did not find a public financial disclosure report for Kushner.
Responding to
CREW says that President Trump's February 19, 2026 designation of Jared Kushner as a special envoy requires him to file a public financial disclosure report within 30 days under federal ethics rules.
“Mr. Kushner has been involved in the most serious foreign policy and national security issues of the day at the same time that his private investment firm is engaged in significant businesses with some of the same foreign partners he is working with in his governmental role. The potential for conflicts of interest is staggering and although Mr. Kushner is legally required to file a public disclosure statement so that the public and Congress have transparency about what foreign governments may be funding his businesses, there is no publicly available evidence that he has done so.”
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
Written testimony for the subcommittee's September 15, 2026 hearing on covert foreign influence operations in America. The passage on Kushner is one paragraph in a statement about foreign conflicts of interest in the Trump administration. Its footnotes cite news reports on Kushner's role and Affinity's assets, CREW's March 11 letter to the White House counsel, and a May 14 Bloomberg report.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
The paragraph follows Sherman's account of conflicts of interest in President Trump's own foreign business dealings, in testimony for a hearing titled Trojan Horses: Covert Foreign Malign Influence Operations in America. CREW had written to the White House counsel on March 11 that Kushner's February 19 designation triggers a 30-day deadline for a public financial disclosure report.
After the quotation
Sherman closes the testimony by urging Congress to examine the administration's conflicts and to empower inspectors general. The White House's position, given to CNN on October 1, is that Kushner conducts his diplomacy on a volunteer basis. As of October 4, 2026, we did not find a public financial disclosure report, an ethics agreement or a conflict-of-interest waiver for Kushner, and we could not locate a public reply to CREW's March 11 letter.
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 the Gulf capital behind it, creates a conflict of interest with his role in U.S. Middle East negotiations. Sherman writes that Kushner's private investment firm does significant business with some of the same foreign partners he works with in government and calls the potential for conflicts of interest staggering, so we used Condemned. The closest competing label is Mixed or conditional, because he speaks of a potential conflict and ties his point to a missing disclosure filing. We did not use it because he states no condition under which the arrangement would be proper. The passage mentions neither Affinity nor Israeli investments, and his closing call for Congress to examine the administration's conflicts is general.
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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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- CREW's president tells a House subcommittee that the "potential for conflicts of interest is staggering" in Kushner's case
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The Dispute Index. "CREW's president tells a House subcommittee that the "potential for conflicts of interest is staggering" in Kushner's case". First published: 2026-10-05. Last updated: 2026-10-05. https://disputeindex.com/events/4601-on-september-15-2026-donald-k-sherman-president