Vanity Fair was tight-lipped Monday on its decision to publish an inflammatory book excerpt accusing President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner of overseeing secret bank accounts funded by Middle Eastern leaders to the tune of at least $2 billion — as questions about the piece’s accuracy and credibility mounted.
asserted
questions → publish → accuracy
The mag was silent despite Kushner lawyer Chad Mizelle’s demand that it take down the excerpt from journo Matthew Cole’s new book “Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed’s Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East.”
asserted
it → take → East
“We formally put Vanity Fair and Condé Nast on notice regarding the false and defamatory allegations published about our client, Jared Kushner,” Mizelle, a former Justice Department chief of staff, wrote on X Saturday.
asserted
Mizelle → put → X
“Serious questions are now being raised about the credibility of this reporting, including by independent journalists,” he added.
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he → raise → journalists
“Despite repeated requests, the author has failed to produce a single bank statement, wire transfer record, account number, or other verifiable evidence supporting these extraordinary accusations.”
Vanity Fair never reached out to Kushner to fact-check the article or even ask him for comment before publishing the piece last Thursday, according to sources close to him.
uncertain
Fair → repeat → him
A Vanity Fair rep failed to answer a Post inquiry Monday asking why it didn’t reach out to Kushner or whether it did its own fact-checking of the piece — or simply relied on the book’s publisher, Simon & Schuster.
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it → fail → publisher
Meanwhile, Kushner is expected to sue both Simon & Schuster and Cole as early as this week, with a potential suit against Vanity Fair to follow.
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suit → expect → Fair
Simon & Schuster released Cole’s book on Sunday — two days ahead of the originally scheduled release date.
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Simon → release → date
In a Thursday letter to Vanity Fair and its parent Condé Nast, Kushner’s attorneys at Clare Locke LLP called the article “defamatory,” adding that the allegations against their client are “false” and “outrageous.”
Kushner and his legal team pushed back hard on Simon & Schuster and Cole, denying the book’s claims in a separate 13-page letter.
uncertain
Kushner → call → letter
Kushner echoed the sentiment on X, writing Thursday: “The allegations made by this author are completely insane and never happened.
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allegations → echo → author
“We denied every claim on the record, yet the author provided not a single shred of verifiable evidence to substantiate them,” he added.
uncertain
he → deny → them
In the excerpt, Cole alleged that Kushner oversaw secret bank accounts funded by leaders from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
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Kushner → allege → Arabia
At least $2 billion was allegedly funneled into accounts in Azerbaijan and with Israel’s Central Bank, with about half of the funds intended for Kushner’s “personal benefit,” according to the journo.
uncertain
half → funnel → journo
But critics have questioned Cole’s reporting, with the Bank of Israel telling reporter Neria Krause that it was not aware of any such arrangement.
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it → question → arrangement
Cole’s article even notes the central bank does not offer personal accounts.
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bank → note → accounts
The article’s assertion that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu played a role in accessing the purported central bank account drew scrutiny from Axios’ Barak Ravid, who noted accounts there “are under significant monitoring by career civil servants.”
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accounts → play → servants
The piece also claimed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman moved “roughly $1 billion to Israel via Azerbaijan for Kushner.”
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Salman → claim → Kushner
It included a convoluted back-story in which Dutch spies allegedly cottoned on to a Russian scheme to monitor Kushner’s phone — leading the Dutch to track it, too, according to Cole.
uncertain
spies → include → Cole
On Friday, The Jerusalem Post removed an article about Cole’s reporting, citing “significant factual questions about the alleged financial transactions.”
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Post → remove → transactions
This is not the first time Kushner has pushed back against questionable reporting.
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Kushner → push → reporting
Earlier this month, he put out a lengthy “fact check” to a New Yorker piece that takes up “familiar accusations” linking his diplomatic efforts in the Trump administration to his own private equity firm’s bottom line.
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that → put → line
Meanwhile, the magazine has come off a turbulent year under its new boundary-pushing editorial director Mark Guiducci, who got heat last year for hiring scandal-scarred political reporter Olivia Nuzzi.
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who → come → Nuzzi
Nuzzi had been fired from New York Magazine in 2024 for not disclosing a relationship with then-2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom she interviewed for the glossy.
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she → fire → glossy
The Aporia
