House Republicans pulled a motion to subpoena Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner over a $2 billion investment his private equity firm received after he left the White House.
Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin had made a motion to subpoena Kushner for information about the investment his private equity firm, Affinity Partners, received from a fund led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The investment was received six months after Kushner left his role as a White House adviser to Trump in January 2021.
The motion was tabled by Ohio Representative Jim Jordan and James Comer, the chair of the House Oversight Committee, during a meeting regarding President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden.
The Context
Democrats have often discussed the money Kushner's firm received from Saudi Arabia soon after leaving the White House as House Republicans try to impeach Biden over allegations the president benefited from Hunter Biden's foreign dealings while in office, despite no evidence to back up the claims.
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee already previously released a report alleging Trump's businesses received millions in foreign payments while he was in office.
Eric Trump, executive vice president of The Trump Organization, dismissed the report's finding as a "joke" and said that all the company's profits from its business with foreign governments were voluntarily donated to the United States Treasury.
What We Know
During Wednesday's hearing on Hunter Biden, Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, dismissed suggestions that Republicans such as Kushner have been subjected to foreign influence while in office.
Jordan said that Kushner had a positive impact on diplomacy, including being one of the "key officials" involved in the Abraham Accords Act—a diplomatic agreement between Israel and the Arab countries which was brokered by Trump in September 2020.
"But of course the Democrats don't want to admit that," Jordan added.
In response, Raskin then said he has a motion, and that he would like the committee to move to subpoena Kushner to "compel testimony related to the $2 billion collected from Saudi Arabia after his service within the White House."
In response, Jordan moved to table the motion. Comer told the hearing that the "motion to table is not debatable...as many as are in favor of tabling, signify by saying 'Aye.'"
Comer then took a vote on tabling the motion to subpoena Kushner. Comer ruled that the "Ayes" won and Raskin's motion was rejected.
Raskin's office has been contacted for comment via email.
Views
In February, Kushner defended his Saudi deal soon after leaving the White House, and dismissed suggestions it amounted to a conflict of interest.
"If you ask me about the work that that we did in the White House, for my critics, what I say is point to a single decision we made that wasn't in the interest of America," Kushner told the Axios BFD summit in Miami, Florida.
What Next
The impeachment inquiry into Biden is expected to wind down soon without providing any hard evidence of presidential wrongdoing.
During Wednesday's hearing, Comer called on Biden to testify in front of the committee before it concluded.
White House spokesperson Ian Sams said the request a "sad stunt at the end of a dead impeachment."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
fairness meter
To Rate This Article
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
