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White House Probes Loans to Kushner’s Business


White House Probes Loans to Kushner’s Business
Citigroup, Apollo loans totaling over $500 million were made after top executives of both firms met with Jared Kushner
Erica Orden
March 26, 2018 5:58 p.m. ET
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WASHINGTON—White House attorneys are examining whether two loans totaling more than $500 million to Jared Kushner’s family business may have violated any criminal laws or federal ethics regulations, according to a letter from a federal ethics agency made public Monday.

Both loans went to the Kushner Cos., the private real-estate company founded by Mr. Kushner’s father and run by members of his family. Mr. Kushner, who is President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and serves in a senior position in the White House, met with top executives of both Citi and Apollo before each loan was disbursed, the New York Times reported last month.

“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,” wrote David Apol, the acting director of the Office of Government Ethics. “During that discussion, the White House informed me that they had already begun this process.”


The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for the Kushner Cos. said the company hasn’t received an inquiry from the White House Counsel’s Office.

The letter, dated March 22 and released Monday, was addressed to Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat who sits on the House Oversight Committee.

Mr. Krishnamoorthi earlier this month asked the Office of Government Ethics for an advisory opinion about ethical questions he said were raised by Mr. Kushner meeting with executives while their institutions provided financial backing to his family company.

The transactions “raise serious ethical questions that need to be investigated,” Mr. Krishnamoorthi said in his letter to OGE, asking: “Do the above actions by Mr. Kushner constitute a breach of his ethical obligations to the American people?”

Citigroup said last week in a letter to lawmakers that the loan was “completely appropriate,” adding that Citi began exploring the loan in late 2016, before CEO Michael Corbat and Mr. Kushner met at the White House on March 3, 2017. On March 31, Kushner Cos. and two partner firms closed on a $325 million mortgage for a Brooklyn property with Citigroup, the bank said. “Nothing related to the [Brooklyn] loan or any other personal business with Mr. Kushner or the Kushner Companies was discussed at that meeting,” Citigroup said.

Citigroup’s letter, which came in response to a request for information from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) and other lawmakers, said “the Kushner family has been a client of Citi for decades.”

Also last week, Kushner Cos. disclosed that it had recently received another loan from Citigroup, this one for $200 million for a Jersey City, N.J. property known as Trump Bay Street.

A spokesman for Apollo Global Management declined to comment.

Mr. Kushner had been running the Kushner business before the election. 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.

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. The company said recently that it has stopped using EB-5 financing for its projects.

OGE, an independent agency, is charged with helping executive-branch officials avoid conflicts of interest. Its role is advisory and educational in nature, rather than enforcement. Investigations and prosecutions related to potential violations are handled by the Justice Department.

—Rebecca Ballhaus contributed to this article.

Write to Byron Tau at byron.tau@wsj.com and Erica Orden at erica.orden@wsj.com


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Myspace needs come back and drop a commercial with Tom but model it after suge at the 95 source awards... Are you tired of a social media site all up in your most intimate details, selling your information to the highest bidder, then come over to Myspace.com
With personalised, streamlined (read:no clutter) HTML5 pages that idea could make some waves..:ohhh:
 
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