Kushner disputes CNN report on Israeli defence-linked stake; Grisham questions his volunteer status

Mixed · 2CNN reported on Thursday 1 October that Jared Kushner's investment firm, Affinity Partners, is the largest shareholder in Phoenix Financial, a Tel Aviv-based Israeli financial institution. 1 2 Mixed · 2According to CNN, Phoenix holds stakes worth more than $456 million in Israeli defence companies. Using Israeli financial transparency laws, CNN found that Phoenix has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Elbit Systems and holds stakes in at least eight other firms supplying the Israeli military, and that all nine saw their stock value rise last year. 1 2 Mixed · 2CNN also reported that Affinity does not directly hold a stake in those nine companies but stands to gain when Phoenix profits, and that Kushner acted as a key negotiator on the Gaza war while Affinity held the stake. The report said it found no indication that Kushner's actions as a diplomat directly affected the investments reviewed. 2 3

Mixed · 2On Friday 2 October Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, posted on X that CNN had published a "deeply misleading story and headline" suggesting his diplomatic work benefited investments in Israeli defence companies. 3 2 Right · 1Kushner said Phoenix is not a defence company but one of Israel's largest publicly traded financial institutions, managing about $220 billion, which he compared to Vanguard or Fidelity. He said he has no role in deciding what Phoenix buys or sells, that Affinity does not own the defence companies, and that Affinity's investment is public and predates Trump's re-election. He added that the stake is up more than five times since the initial investment. 2 Mixed · 2Kushner said CNN's own finding of no direct effect contradicted its headline, and that the facts made "a less provocative headline, but a much more accurate story". Fox News reported that the finding appeared ten paragraphs into CNN's report. 2 3

Left · 1Kushner said he had ignored "false and misleading stories" for ten years but that "the cycle has gotten out of control", and he promised to put out facts publicly when the truth matters. 3 Right · 1A CNN spokesperson told Fox News Digital "we stand by our reporting". CNN's report included a statement from Kushner's attorney that any suggestion his diplomatic work influenced Phoenix's investments, or vice versa, is incorrect. A White House spokesperson told CNN that linking his business activity to his diplomacy is a "tired narrative that Democrats have pushed". 2 Left · 1On Thursday, Stephanie Grisham, a former Trump White House press secretary, told CNN's Erin Burnett that Kushner's "volunteer" role in the current administration means he does not have to show much of the money he makes while serving as a temporary public worker. 1

Left · 1Grisham said Affinity was committed $2 billion from Saudi Arabia after the first Trump administration and that she believes its assets are now around $6 billion. She said the arrangement did not fit Kushner's earlier line that "what people call conflicts of interest, I call experience and trusted relationships". This is her account; the coverage does not include a response to it from Kushner. 1