Jared Kushner is threatening legal action against those responsible for publishing a Vanity Fair book excerpt alleging that President Donald Trump’s son-in-law had access to secret foreign bank accounts containing roughly $2 billion during Trump’s first term.
The allegations, published Thursday, come from investigative journalist Matthew Cole’s forthcoming book, “Princes and Thieves.” Kushner has categorically denied the claims, while his attorney, Chad Mizelle, accused those behind the reporting of publishing false information and threatened legal action.
The dispute puts VF and book publisher Simon & Schuster under the threat of litigation just days before the book’s scheduled Oct. 27 release. Kushner’s legal team says it disputed the allegations before publication, setting up a confrontation over the reporting behind one of the book’s central claims.
In the excerpt, Cole alleges that Dutch intelligence officials gained access to information from Kushner’s compromised phone and discovered evidence of secret financial arrangements involving leaders in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Investigators allegedly found that Kushner could access a UAE bank account that received hundreds of millions of dollars through Azerbaijan.
Cole further alleges that Saudi and Emirati officials arranged for at least $2 billion to be placed in accounts Kushner could access, including one holding roughly $750 million on which he was allegedly a signatory. The allegations have not been independently verified by TheWrap.
Kushner rejected the allegations Thursday on X, calling them “completely insane” and saying they “never happened.” He accused Cole of failing to provide bank statements, wire transfer records or other documentation substantiating the claims.
Mizelle said Kushner’s legal team had sent Simon & Schuster a 13-page letter disputing the allegations before publication.
In a post on X, Mizelle said his team intends to pursue legal action against those responsible for publishing and spreading the allegations, which he called false and defamatory.
Cole, a former national security reporter at The Intercept, is the author of “Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed’s Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East.” The book is scheduled for publication Tuesday by Atria/One Signal Publishers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
TheWrap has reached out to Vanity Fair and Simon & Schuster for comment.
