Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner made $82m last year while working in White House

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner earned at least $82 million (£61m) from their businesses while serving as senior White House advisers during 2017, according to financial disclosure forms released on Monday.

The pair have both divested themselves from day-to-day control of their multiple business operations while in the White House, where they act as unpaid advisers to President Donald Trump.

However, the range of interests, amount generated and international connections have raised eyebrows, with ethics experts warning that this continued activity could raise questions of possible conflicts of interest.

While Mr Kushner divested some holdings, he and his wife have maintained large stakes in businesses with domestic and foreign ties.

Mr Kushner’s family real estate company has properties around the country, including thousands of apartment units in states including New Jersey and Maryland. Ms Trump’s clothing and accessories line is produced exclusively in foreign factories in countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia and China.

Jared Kushner has real estate holdings around the US while Ivanka Trump's jewellery and clothing lines have factories in Bangladesh and ChinaCredit:
Reuters

“We don’t have insight into who is buying and selling stuff, so we don’t know if it’s market value,” said Virginia Canter, the executive branch ethics counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

“Who is financing these transactions? Is it some unknown L.L.C.? How do we know it isn’t a sovereign wealth fund from Saudi Arabia or some other place?”

Their new ethics disclosures showed that the couple’s trusts and other investment vehicles took part in nearly 80 transactions during the year, buying or selling swaths of development property in New Jersey, commercial real estate in Manhattan, apartment buildings in Brooklyn, stakes in mutual funds and at least one hedge fund.

The majority of Ms Trump’s money came from the trust that oversees her clothing brand, which paid her more than $5 million, the filings show.

She also earned $3.9 million from her stake in the Trump International Hotel in Washington, and more than $2 million in severance from the Trump Organization.

Last year, Mr Kushner’s assets were worth between $179 million and $735 million, while Ms Trump’s assets were valued between about $55.3 million and $75.6 million, according to a Washington Post estimate of their filings. Some of their assets were jointly listed.

The couple say they have followed all ethics rulesCredit:
AP

Peter Mirijanian, a spokesman for Abbe Lowell, Mr Kushner’s and Ms Trump’s ethics counsel, said that the couple have followed all ethics rules and that Monday’s disclosures are an insufficient way to understand the nuances of their net worth.

“Since joining the administration, Mr Kushner and Ms Trump have complied with the rules and restrictions as set out by the Office of Government Ethics,” he said. 

“As to the current filing which OGE also reviews, their net worth remains largely the same, with changes reflecting more the way the form requires disclosure than any substantial difference in assets or liabilities.”

Mr Mirijanian added that they had not been involved in the various transactions that benefited them. 

“As stated on numerous occasions, Mr Kushner and Ms Trump removed themselves from their companies’ operations and investment decisions when they entered government service,” he said.

In late May, Mr Kushner’s father, Charles, said ethics watchdogs were “jerks” who “can’t get a real job”.

He suggested that the criticism may discourage rich and successful people from taking government positions.

“I look at what my kids have sacrificed to go into government, with the only intent of doing good for this country and for the world, and to help people,” he told the Real Deal. 

“And what they have sacrificed, and the daily barrage of negative media, and the attacks they get, and they had a perfect, beautiful life and they still have a very good life, but they sacrificed a lot.”

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