1 NOV 2026 · Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund committed $2 billion to Jared Kushner's brand-new firm, Affinity Partners, after the fund's screening panel flagged its inexperience, called its fee excessive, and rated its operations "unsatisfactory in all aspects." The board chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved it anyway, and the fund's staff wrote that the deal aimed to form a "strategic relationship" with Jared Kushner himself.
Osiris walks through all five red flags, the $25 million-a-year management fee, Senator Ron Wyden's 2024 finding that Affinity had collected about $87 million in Saudi fees without distributing a penny of earnings, the $1.5 billion that followed from Qatar and Abu Dhabi, and why it matters now that Kushner negotiates for America as Trump's peace envoy while the White House treats him as a volunteer who skips public financial disclosures.
Kushner says the Saudi investment was made on commercial terms, calls Wyden's fee estimate inaccurate, and says he has never taken a diplomatic action to benefit Affinity, himself, or any investor. His lawyer, Chad Mizelle, calls CREW's lawsuit over his disclosures "without merit."
Next episode: the envoy job, and the 60 Minutes interview where Kushner called his conflicts of interest "experience."
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Sources:
The New York Times, "Before Giving Billions to Jared Kushner, Saudi Investment Fund Had Big Doubts" (April 10, 2022), syndicated: https://bdnews24.com/business/before-giving-billions-to-jared-kushner-saudi-investment-fund-had-big-doubts
Senate Finance Committee, Chairman Ron Wyden's letter to Affinity Partners (Sept. 24, 2024): https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/chairman_wyden_to_affinity_partnerspdf.pdf
CBS News, 60 Minutes interview with Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff (Oct. 19, 2025): https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jared-kushner-and-steve-witkoffs-extended-60-minutes-interview/
Also: Jared Kushner's written response (Oct. 8, 2026); Affinity Partners and Phoenix Financial announcement (July 27, 2026); Bloomberg (Dec. 20, 2024); Invest Like the Best podcast (Dec. 20, 2024); Axios BFD Miami (Feb. 13, 2024); CNN (March 2019); AP (Oct. 14, 2026); CREW v. Kushner, D.D.C. (Oct. 14, 2026); congressional Democrats' fee estimate (March 2026). Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/index-red--5635545/support.
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