Kushner Companies, the family business of White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, took million of dollars in loans from two companies that participated in White House meetings with President Trump’s son-in-law, according to a new report.
In November, private equity firm Apollo Global Management doled out a $184 million loan to Kushner Companies as a way to refinance a Chicago skyscraper’s mortgage, the New York Times reported. Earlier in 2017, Citigroup gave Kushner and one of its partners a $325 million loan to assist financing Brooklyn office buildings.
According to a spokesperson for Abbe Lowell, Kushner’s attorney, Kushner “has met with hundred of business people” and “has taken no part of any business, loans or projects with of for” Kushner Companies since obtaining his post at the White House.
Christine Taylor, spokesperson for Kushner Companies, said that Kushner’s role as a senior adviser had not influenced the company’s relationships with financial institutions. “Stories like these attempt to make insinuating connections that do not exist to disparage the financial institutions and companies involved,” she said.
Citigroup said that Kushner was a bank client ahead of the election and that his position in the White House did not impact the firm’s relationship with Kushner. Additionally, an Apollo spokesperson said that the loan “went through the firm’s standard approval process.”
The report follows news that Kushner will not be able to access top secret intelligence because his White House security clearance was downgraded from the “Top Secret/SCI” level to “Secret” level.
