Kushner Dispute: $2 Billion Book Claims Face Legal Threat

Jared Kushner’s legal team has signaled intent to sue over a forthcoming book that claims he controlled more than $2 billion in hidden accounts for Middle Eastern governments. The allegations, detailed in a Vanity Fair excerpt published Thursday, center on a hacked iPhone and secret transfers from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The book, titled "Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed's Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East," argues that Kushner used these "slush money funds" to buy influence within the U.S. government during his tenure as a senior White House adviser in the first Trump administration. The text focuses on his role in negotiating foreign policy deals involving Israel, the Gulf states, China, and Russia.

According to the excerpt, Dutch intelligence agents discovered the hack in 2017 after turning a Russian spy. The report states the agents gained access to Kushner’s device and watched him log into a UAE account that had received hundreds of millions of dollars from a bank in Azerbaijan. The authors claim that leaders from Saudi Arabia and the UAE deposited at least $2 billion into bank accounts tied to Kushner, including one held at Israel’s Central Bank.

The account describes the owners of these accounts as appearing to be official government bodies or charities, while the funds were actually earmarked for "off-the-books diplomatic objectives." One such objective was brokering a deal to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The book further asserts that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman placed roughly $1 billion in at least one account for Kushner’s personal benefit, citing a "person with knowledge of the money."

Kushner rejected the narrative in a statement issued Thursday night, calling the allegations "completely insane and never happened." He noted that his legal team denied every claim on the record, yet the author provided no bank statements, wire transfer records, account numbers, or transaction dates. His attorney labeled the claims "false and defamatory" and said they plan to pursue legal action against those responsible, without specifying the exact parties targeted.

The White House also weighed in through Steven Cheung, the president’s assistant and communications director. Writing on X, Cheung dismissed the source book as "complete fiction" fabricated by a "failed spy thriller writer." He argued the publication offers no documentation, relying instead on "mysterious words from unnamed sources."

CBS News has not independently verified the excerpt. The legal threat follows the publication of the Vanity Fair piece, which serves as a preview for the full book scheduled for release later this year.