Mondoweiss
Jared Kushner is secret financial partners with the Steinmetz family, once
the richest in Israel
US Politics
(((James North))) on April 27, 2017 2 Comments
Jared Kushner and Donald Trump. (Photo: Getty Images)
Jared Kushner, the First Son-in-Law, is secret financial partners with what
was once the richest family in Israel - the billionaire Steinmetzes, whose
leading figure has been linked to a massive bribery scandal in Africa.
Kushner's hidden business ties, just revealed in the New York Times and
Bloomberg, should prompt the same intense scrutiny that other Trump
officials have gotten for their secret links to Russia. A federal grand jury
has been investigating Beny Steinmetz, the Israeli billionaire family's most
prominent member, for bribing officials in Africa to steal mining
concessions. How can Donald Trump's Justice Department now be expected to
conduct an honest probe of Steinmetz's alleged crimes?
In fact, Alan Dershowitz, a criminal defense attorney for Beny Steinmetz,
already told the Times that "he believed that the federal investigation of
Mr. Steinmetz and his companies was no longer active." Does Dershowitz
already know something the American public doesn't?
The Times article points out that in 2012, Kushner's real estate company
"went on a buying spree, snapping up about 11,000 apartments around the
country, roughly doubling its inventory." Until now, Kushner's partners have
been kept secret.
Beny Steinmetz, in addition to the U.S. probe, is being investigated in 3
other countries. Israel even arrested him briefly last December. Steinmetz
is a diamond merchant who was once worth $8 billion, and friends with two
Israeli prime ministers. He is suspected of bribing government officials in
the west African nation of Guinea to secure the rights to rich iron ore
deposits worth $20 billion.
Just recently, Steinmetz struck back - at George Soros, who has helped fund
the current, honest Guinea government's costly efforts to win economic
justice. Steinmetz's company sued Soros for "defamation" in a New York
federal court. "Soros was motivated solely by malice, as there was no
economic interest he had in Guinea," the Steinmetz company charged.