Trump Officials Transition from Politics to Profits in Middle East

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Facts

  • A NYT report on Sun. has shed light on how senior Trump Admin. officials, such as WH advisor Jared Kushner and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, appear to have leveraged official contacts in the Middle East for profit after leaving office.1
  • In the final months of the Trump admin., Kushner and Mnuchin reportedly spearheaded a new US government-sponsored investment vehicle called the Abraham Fund that was supposed to raise $3B for investments in the Middle East.1
  • The Abraham Fund didn't have any designated accounts, staff, income, or projects, and the fund appears to have vanished when Trump left office.1
  • The project afforded Kushner, Mnuchin, and top aides the opportunity to travel to the Middle East in the final days of the Trump admin. to meet with Gulf leaders and promote the fund.1
  • Shortly after Trump left office, Kushner and Mnuchin each launched their own private investment funds - Affinity Partners and Liberty Capital, respectively - and collectively raised $3.5B from many of the sovereign wealth funds of the Gulf states they visited on behalf of the Abraham Fund.2
  • Kushner and Mnuchin also staffed their respective investment firms with other Trump admin. alums, including former WH military attachés, ambassadors, and top cabinet aides.1

Sources: 1New York Times and 2Business Insider.

Narratives

  • Left narrative, as provided by Daily Kos. The revolving door effect is nothing new: many bureaucrats accept the grind of an official role precisely for the opportunity to profit from it when they leave office. But this is something different: Kushner and Mnuchin appear to have used their role as representatives of the US to advance their personal interests while still in office.
  • Right narrative, as provided by Bloomberg. Kushner and Mnuchin's funds may be unseemly, but they don't violate any ethical rules because federal ethics guidelines - by design - don't apply to the White House nor to officials once they have left office. These issues are not limited to one party, nor are they as black and white as press coverage might suggest.
  • Cynical narrative, as provided by Washington Post. The constant flow of damning reports about the Trump admin. and its aftermath is making one thing clear: the US has lost its ability to identify, punish, and deter corruption. When self-dealing is the very modus operandi of an entire admin., accountability becomes impossible. The rule of law is being degraded and it doesn't seem likely to improve.