Reporting
Vanity Fair exposé alleges Kushner moved $2bn through secret Gulf accounts
WASHINGTON — Former White House advisor Jared Kushner and his legal team issued a formal threat of defamation litigation on October 23, 2026, following the release of a book excerpt alleging he held signatory access to $2 billion in undisclosed Middle Eastern account structures.
The excerpt, written by investigative journalist Matthew Cole and published by Vanity Fair on October 22, 2026, originates from his forthcoming book examining Kushner’s diplomatic and financial activities in the Gulf region.
The text asserts that the Netherlands' Military Intelligence and Security Service monitored Kushner’s personal iPhone X during 2017 and 2018, as Newsweek reported. Gizmodo detailed that the excerpt describes three distinct financial arrangements: a $750 million "Alpha account" held at First Abu Dhabi Bank associated with the UAE’s government-funded Watani Al Emarat Foundation, a $1 billion "Beta account" routed through Azerbaijan to Israel's central bank and Cyprus, and a secret emergency defense funding arrangement negotiated between Israel and the UAE.
Named figures issued immediate, categorical denials following the publication. Kushner called the claims "completely insane," and his attorneys dispatched a 13-page notice to publisher Simon & Schuster demanding a full retraction, The New Republic reported. Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David M. Friedman strongly denied acting as an intermediary for any Israeli central bank transfers, while President Donald Trump publicly dismissed the story as a fabrication.
The book excerpt asserts that Dutch intelligence gained access to screen data on Kushner's device after extracting files from a compromised Russian military intelligence server. According to the text, this technical vector raised concerns among European intelligence officials regarding potential Russian awareness of unencrypted White House communications, though neither Dutch nor U.S. agencies have confirmed the cyber-surveillance operation, as CBS News reported.
The alleged account access took place while Kushner served as the Trump administration's principal envoy handling sensitive Middle East peace initiatives and regional normalization talks, Forbes noted. The excerpt claims these parallel financial vehicles operated alongside official diplomatic negotiations, raising broader conflict-of-interest questions surrounding Kushner's foreign policy portfolio and his subsequent post-government private equity investments in the Gulf, according to Ynetnews.
Mainstream news outlets reviewing the claims noted that no primary bank statements, wire receipts, or official government documents confirming the $2 billion in account access have been publicly produced. Kushner's legal team stated it is preparing formal court filings against the author and publisher if the material is distributed commercially without retraction, TheWrap reported.
Simon & Schuster has not indicated any changes to its release schedule, while Kushner's legal representatives said they are proceeding with plans for defamation litigation.