Jared Kushner’s attorney says his legal team has formally put Vanity Fair and its parent company, Condé Nast, on notice over allegations about President Donald Trump’s son-in-law that the lawyer characterized as “false and defamatory.”
The dispute centers on an excerpt from investigative journalist Matthew Cole’s forthcoming book, Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed’s Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East.
The Vanity Fair excerpt alleges that Kushner had access to foreign accounts involving large sums of money during Trump’s first term.
Kushner has categorically denied the allegations.
Newsweek reached out to Vanity Fair and Cole's representation by email for comment Saturday.
Kushner is Trump’s son-in-law and served as a senior White House adviser during Trump’s first administration, from 2017 to 2021.
The allegations concern purported financial arrangements involving countries in the Middle East. According to Cole’s account, Dutch investigators obtained information from Kushner’s compromised phone and uncovered purported financial arrangements involving Middle Eastern governments.
Kushner denies the alleged events occurred.
Cole further alleges that Saudi and Emirati officials arranged for at least $2 billion to be placed in accounts that Kushner could access. The author also alleges that approximately $750 million was transferred into a UAE-linked account on which Kushner was a signatory. Kushner disputes the allegations, and TheWrap said it had not independently verified them.
President Donald Trump has also rejected the report, calling it “a totally false story.”
Has Kushner Been Properly Vetted
Kushner has remained involved in U.S. foreign policy after serving as a senior adviser during Donald Trump’s first administration, particularly on Middle East diplomacy. He joined U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff in indirect negotiations with Iran in February 2026, talks mediated by Oman that its foreign minister said produced “significant progress.”
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has accused Kushner of not being properly vetted for the role as one of Trump's top foreign policy representatives.
Kushner was set to travel with Vice President JD Vance and Witkoff in April to Pakistan for talks amid efforts to sustain a U.S.-Iran ceasefire.
...
Lawyer Dismisses Vanity Fair Claims
In a letter, Kushner’s lawyers disputed the allegations and said the claims at the center of the excerpt amounted to “specific factual accusations of criminal misconduct” that were “categorically false.”
The letter, addressed to Richard A. Bernstein, vice president and deputy general counsel at Advance-Condé Nast, denies a series of allegations individually.
Kushner “was never a signatory to, never had access to, and never knew of any ‘Alpha’ account at First Abu Dhabi Bank,” the lawyers wrote. They also said he did not know of the Watani Al Emarat Foundation, that no “Beta” account was held for him at Israel’s central bank, and that he had no account in Cyprus.
“He never received, controlled, or directed money from any foreign government; never transferred funds to anyone from any such account; and never conditioned any action of the United States government on any benefit to himself,” the letter said.
The attorneys summarized Kushner’s denial in another passage: “There are no accounts and never were.”
The letter also challenged the evidence underlying the allegations, saying that despite repeated requests, Cole had “not provided a single bank statement, account document, or wire record substantiating his accusations.”
Kushner’s Lawyers Point to the Scrutiny He Has Faced
Kushner’s lawyers argued that the allegations were particularly implausible given the scrutiny he faced while serving in government, citing media investigations, congressional inquiries and a special counsel investigation.
The letter said Kushner provided more than 30 hours of testimony and filed financial disclosures during his government service, and asserted that none of those proceedings or filings revealed the alleged arrangements.
The attorneys also accused Vanity Fair of publishing the excerpt despite knowing that Kushner disputed the claims. According to the letter, Kushner’s counsel sent Cole and publisher Simon & Schuster letters dated July 30 and August 10 denying the allegations before Vanity Fair published the excerpt.
The October 23 letter demanded that Vanity Fair “immediately take down the excerpt” and preserve documents related to it, while warning that publication had exposed the outlet to what Kushner’s lawyers characterized as “serious legal risk.”
Attorney Chad Mizelle subsequently amplified the warning on X.
“We formally put Vanity Fair and Condé Nast on notice regarding the false and defamatory allegations published about our client, Jared Kushner,” Mizelle wrote in the post.
Mizelle said “serious questions” had been raised about the credibility of the reporting and reiterated the legal team’s objections to the allegations.
Who is Jared Kushner?
Kushner, 45, is a businessman and investor who served as a senior adviser to his father-in-law, Trump, during the president’s first term. Forbes says Kushner worked as CEO of his family’s real estate business, Kushner Companies, from 2008 to 2017 and founded the Miami-based private equity firm Affinity Partners in 2021.
Born January 10, 1981, in Livingston, New Jersey, Kushner is the eldest child of real estate developer Charles Kushner and Seryl Kushner, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica. The publication says he was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family, has three siblings and is the grandson of Holocaust survivors.
Kushner graduated from Harvard University in 2003 and earned a law degree and an MBA from New York University in 2007, according to Britannica. Forbes also lists a bachelor’s degree from Harvard and JD and MBA degrees from New York University among his credentials.
Forbes estimated Kushner’s real-time net worth at approximately $1 billion as of October 24, 2026, identifying real estate and private equity as the sources of his wealth.
Kushner married Ivanka Trump, Trump’s daughter, in 2009, according to Britannica. The couple have three children. Forbes likewise lists Kushner as married with three children.
What Happens Next
Mizelle’s statement and the October 23 letter raise the prospect of litigation, but the reporting reviewed does not establish that a defamation lawsuit has been filed.
The letter demands that Vanity Fair remove the excerpt and preserve records related to its publication, potentially setting up a further legal dispute if the parties do not resolve their differences.
Meanwhile, Cole’s book was scheduled for release on October 27.
Contact Newsweek editor on this story: Edward Pearcey.