Representative Greg Stanton (D-AZ) questioned Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the alleged conflicts of interest of Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Special Envoy for Peace Jared Kushner during a recent House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.
Rep. Stanton began with Witkoff, who started World Liberty Financial with the Trump family ahead of President Donald Trump's inauguration, in which the United Arab Emirates National Security Adviser, Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, secretly bought a 49% stake.
Additionally, Rep. Stanton described how Witkoff, still part of World Liberty Financial, was leading negotiations to export American artificial intelligence (AI) chips to the UAE, and asked Rubio, "Do you believe that Mr. Witkoff has an unacceptable conflict of interest?"
"I have never seen any evidence that he has made any decisions or advocated for any position that stirs personal benefit," Rubio answered, adding that while he could not address all of the Arizona congressman's points, "Mr. Witkoff is an employee of the White House, and he undergoes the ethics vetting and the procedures for disclosure that are appropriate to them, not the State Department."
Stanton shifted to questions about Kushner, describing how his private equity firm, Affinity Partners, has raised billions of dollars almost exclusively through foreign nationals, including sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar.
"In fact," Stanton continued, "Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman personally recommended that Saudi Arabia invest in Affinity Partners. The Crown Prince has also personally urged President Trump, in multiple phone calls, to continue the ongoing war of choice in Iran. Let's put it another way: the man who bankrolled Kushner's business venture is the same man who was lobbying for the war Kushner is tasked with ending."
Rubio replied that Kushner is a private citizen, and that "he has been advising and participating in this voluntarily. He is not compensated for it in any way."
Rubio further emphasized, "All I have ever seen [Witkoff and Kushner] do is put a tremendous amount of time and energy into trying to solve problems."
