Investigators are expected to dive into Jared Kushner’s real estate dealings with money flowing from Russia and Kazakhstan, according to a copy of a bombshell book.
Steve Bannon, the source of many off-color quotes in the copy of Michael Wolff’s “Fire and Fury” obtained by the Daily News, reportedly said the Russian meddling was “going to get down deep” on President Trump’s son-in-law.
“He’s going crazy because they're going to get down deep in his s--t about how he’s financed everything ... The rabbis with the diamonds and all the s--t coming out of Israel ... and all these guys coming out of Eastern Europe ... all these Russian guys ... and guys in Kazakhstan,” Bannon said.
A reported subpoena from Special Counsel Robert Mueller to Deutsche Bank has raised the possibility that the investigation into possible Trump collusion with the Kremlin is now looking at his and his family’s business dealings.
Numerous wealthy Russians have bought into Trump apartments, and Kushner’s meeting with the head of a sanctioned Russian bank in December 2016 had raised questions about whether he was trying to receive financing for his family’s projects.
Kazakhstan has also featured in the Russia probe, with accusations that money allegedly embezzled from its banks by oligarchs Mukhtar Ablyazov and Viktor Khrapunov had flowed into apartments in Trump SoHo along with other U.S. real estate.
A spokeswoman for Kushner downplayed Bannon's claims, but wouldn't outright deny them.
"Steve Bannon has zero knowledge of our company, its finances or much else for that matter," the spokeswoman told the Daily News. "Kushner has a great track record and completed approximately $14 billion dollars of transactions in the last decade."
In another part of the book Bannon called the June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer that Kushner attended “treasonous” and spoke of possible money laundering inquiries because “the Kushner s--t is greasy.”
Bannon, as quoted in Michael Wolff's "Fire and Fury" also said he expects problems for the Kushner family's 666 Fifth Avenue.
(Richard Drew/AP)
His assessment of Kushner’s future, which came after discussion of how his father Charles Kushner went to prison for illegal campaign contributions, also speculated that the White House special adviser may hit trouble in 2018.
He said that Kushner was “frozen” at Manhattan's 666 Fifth Avenue, a property that his family purchased with more than $1 billion in loans a decade ago but now faces payment on despite a lack on investors.
“When is goes under next year, the whole thing’s cross-collateralized ... he’s wiped, he’s gone, he’s done, it’s over ... Toast,” Bannon reportedly said.
Kushner's spokeswoman refuted that assessment as well.
"666 Fifth Ave. is but a small part of the company’s overall portfolio and the family’s net worth," she said.
A report on 666 Fifth Avenue from Bloomberg this summer said that the deed to the property could be seized by lenders in a default, and that under some circumstances they could go after other assets of the Kushner family.
Rumored financing deals for the project, which Kushner sold his stake in upon joining the White House, have focused on foreign investors such China's Angbang Insurance Group but fallen through.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, January 4, 2018
