Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden launched an investigation Wednesday of an investment firm run by Jared Kushner, saying the vast amount of foreign funding raises the risk that Middle Eastern states will curry favor with politically connected people who may return to power in Washington.
Mr. Wyden, Oregon Democrat, alleged the structure of the payments to Affinity Partners, founded by Mr. Kushner, husband of Ivanka Trump, shields them from public scrutiny and may be an end-run around the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
“It is deeply concerning that several Middle Eastern governments are using funds managed by Affinity as a means to pay tens of millions of dollars in fees every year to former President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, creating significant conflicts of interest and potential counterintelligence risks,” Mr. Wyden said.
The Democrat launched the probe on the heels of President Biden’s son, Hunter, being convicted in Delaware of three federal gun crimes.
Some Republicans say the trial obscured larger questions about Hunter Biden’s work to trade off his famous father’s name through businesses such as Seneca Global Advisors, which claimed to help companies expand into foreign markets. Hunter Biden’s foreign deals are also central to House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into President Biden, though the probe has largely stalled.
House investigators say Hunter Biden and his partners used shell companies to obscure the foreign money, and the investments appeared to be an attempt to influence the elder Mr. Biden, who served as vice president from 2009 to 2017.