Jared Kushner Fires Back at ‘Deeply Misleading’ CNN Report About ‘Potential Conflict of Interest’

(AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Jared Kushner lashed out at CNN and accused them of publishing a “misleading” report about a “potential conflict of interest” he has through his company and Israel.

“CNN published a deeply misleading story and headline suggesting that my diplomatic work in the Middle East somehow benefited investments in Israeli defense companies,” Kushner posted to X on Friday. A CNN spokesperson told Mediaite in a statement on Kushner’s post, “We stand by our reporting.”

The report he’s referring to was published on Thursday. The investigative piece focuses on Kushner’s private equity company, Affinity Partners, owning the largest stake, one they doubled when President Donald Trump took office, in Phoenix Financial, a Tel-Aviv based firm.

The “potential conflict of interest,” the report notes, is the fact that Phoenix Financial has “invested hundreds of millions of dollars into Israel’s largest arms manufacturer, Elbit Systems” while Kushner has acted as a negotiator for the administration in Gaza. The company also holds stakes in eight other companies that provide equipment to the Israeli military.

The report notes that there is “no indication that Kushner’s actions as a diplomat directly affected the investments reviewed.” All of the companies have seen their values grow in recent years. Affinity does not own a direct stake in Elbit Systems.

Kushner, who works for the Trump administration in a voluntary role, acknowledged the fact that the report said his actions had no direct effect on these companies’ investments, but he blasted the company for requiring readers to provide a login to make it to that line.

He wrote:

Buried behind a paywall, it acknowledges: “CNN found no indication that Kushner’s actions as a diplomat directly affected the investments reviewed.”

Phoenix is not a defense company. It is one of Israel’s largest publicly traded financial institutions, highly regulated and managing approximately $220 billion across thousands of investments.

The report, he added, put too much emphasis on Phoenix’s investments.

“It manages the retirement savings of millions of Israelis. The savers don’t choose the individual investments, and neither do I. I have no role in deciding what Phoenix buys or sells. It has performed very well for Affinity and our investors, up more than five times since our initial investment,” Kushner wrote.

Kushner declared that “misleading stories” will not “distract” him from his work with the administration.

“Misleading stories will not distract me from the work President Trump asked me to do: help end wars, bring people together and pursue peace. That work is too important,” he wrote.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!