Book 'Princes and Thieves' alleges Kushner took Emirati money; he denies it

Right · 1Investigative journalist Matthew Cole's new book, 'Princes and Thieves', accuses Emirati leader Mohamed bin Zayed (MBZ) of sending billions of dollars to mercenaries and political operators, including Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law. 1 Right · 1Vanity Fair published an excerpt reporting that Dutch military intelligence hacked Kushner's phone in 2018 and found hundreds of millions of dollars in bank transfers connected to MBZ; the publication date was moved forward from October 27. 1 Right · 1According to Cole's sources, MBZ and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman put a collective $2 billion into Emirati and Israeli bank accounts managed, but not technically owned, by Kushner, and parts of this fund allegedly went to Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar, contractor Erik Prince and Felipe Vidal. 1

Left · 1In a later excerpt reported by The New Republic and relayed by Raw Story on 27 October, the book alleges the UAE paid Kushner to help push out Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, with $50 million routed through Azerbaijan to a Cyprus bank account a month after Tillerson's March 2018 firing. 2 Mixed · 2The book also alleges that Qatari officials told Kushner they would help secure his property at 666 Fifth Avenue after Tillerson's exit, and that the Qatari royal family authorised and paid for the 2018 Brookfield investment, which Cole's three sources claim; it is unclear what Trump knew. 2 1 Right · 1Kushner's lawyers called the allegations 'incredible and false', said he never accessed foreign accounts and followed all rules, denied any relationship with Haftar, Prince or Vidal apart from one meeting with Prince, and said any suggestion of a quid pro quo with Qatar is false and defamatory. 1

Left · 1Kushner has called earlier claims 'completely insane, categorically false', his lawyers called an excerpt 'defamatory per se', and his attorney denied he sought or accepted money from MBZ or held a Cyprus account. 2 Right · 1Reason notes that the most explosive claims rest on anonymous sources, so it comes down to Cole's word against Kushner's; it also reports that Israeli negotiator Gershon Baskin questioned the claim because the Bank of Israel does not offer private banking, which the book answers by saying the money sat in what appeared to be a government account. 1 Right · 1Cole says in the epilogue that he considered the lawyers' responses and remains confident his reporting is accurate; Reason also notes the US government regards the May 2019 tanker attack as genuinely Iranian, not an Emirati false flag. 1