Ahead of US President Biden's upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia, a group of top Democratic lawmakers wrote a letter urging the president to get tougher with Saudi Arabia and its Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, calling him “a bad strategic partner.” As a presidential candidate, Biden had pledged to make the kingdom a “pariah” over its abuses.
Asked about his possible travel to Saudi Arabia, Biden said that he hasn't changed his views on human rights. “Look, I'm not going to change my view on human rights. But as president of the United States, my job is to bring peace if I can, peace if I can. And that's what I'm going to try to do.”
Representative Carolyn Maloney affirmed that the Committee on Oversight and Reform is investigating the Saudi Arabian government's $2bn investment with a firm founded by Jared Kushner.
“The Committee on Oversight and Reform is investigating whether you (Kushner) have improperly traded on your government position to obtain billions of dollars from the Saudi government and whether your personal financial interests improperly influenced US foreign policy during the administration of your father-in-law, former President Trump,” Maloney said on Thursday in a letter.
Maloney, the New York Democrat who leads the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, sent the letter to Kushner, who served as a White House adviser to Trump, requesting documents on the investment in his firm, Affinity Partners.
“Your support for Saudi interests was unwavering, even as Congress and the rest of the world closely scrutinized the country’s human rights abuses in Yemen, the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi assassins tied to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Saudi Arabia’s crackdown on political dissidents at home,” Maloney wrote.
“The Committee is concerned by your decision to solicit billions of dollars from the Saudi government immediately following your significant involvement in shaping U.S.-Saudi relations,” Maloney said, adding that Kushner’s close relationship with the crown prince as well as his pro-Saudi positions during the Trump administration and the Saudi government’s funding “create the appearance of a quid pro quo for your foreign policy work during the Trump Administration.”
Over the past year, reports affirmed Kushner had secured a $2bn investment from the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund – the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF). The deal includes plans to invest millions of dollars of Saudi Arabia’s money in Israeli startups.
