Jared Kushner, who served as White House senior adviser under former President Trump, said Tuesday that he had not seen the U.S. intelligence report that concluded Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved of the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi government.
Kushner, who is also Trump’s son-in-law, played a critical role in facilitating Middle East relations during the Trump administration and was a close ally of the Saudi crown prince while representing the U.S. overseas.
He has also come under intense scrutiny for securing a $2 billion investment from Public Investment Fund (PIF), a fund led by Crown Prince Mohammed, just six months after leaving the White House. The investment was secured despite objections from the fund’s advisers about investing in Kushner’s newly formed firm.
“Are we really still doing this, Dan?” Kushner initially responded when asked by journalist Dan Primack at an Axios event Tuesday if he believed the report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) about the Khashoggi killing.
“I have not seen the DNI report that the Biden administration put out there,” Kushner said. “And, No. 2 is, look, I know the person who I dealt with. I think he’s a visionary leader. I think what he’s done in that region is transformational.”
At the event, Kushner repeatedly praised Crown Prince Mohammed for what Kushner described as modernizing Saudi Arabia. He also said Khashoggi’s death was “absolutely horrific” but avoided laying blame on the crown prince, who was in a deputy role at the time.
“I understand why people, you know, are upset about that. I think what happened there was absolutely horrific,” Kushner said. “But again, our job was to represent America, to try to push forward things in America.”
On changes in Saudi Arabia over recent years, Kushner said: “I think what’s happened there is absolutely critical. The person who deserves credit for that is Mohammed bin Salman, who, at that time was the deputy crown prince. And I think what he’s done has been absolutely historic for the country.”
“I think he’s done a lot of things that are in America’s interest, and I think he’s done a lot of things that have made the world a better place,” Kushner continued.
He also defended himself against critics of his business dealings with the Saudis after leaving the White House.
“If you ask me about the work that, that we did in the White House, for my critics, what I say is, point to a single decision we made that wasn’t in the interest of America,” Kushner said, about ethics or optics concerns.
“[The] PIF is one of the most prestigious investors in the world. Every fund manager is trying to work with them. If you look at, right now, at the time, you know, maybe going to the Middle East as an investor was less popular three years ago, now it’s one of the hottest places in the world where everyone’s trying to raise money from.”