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A government watchdog has filed a lawsuit seeking to prohibit Jared Kushner from serving as special envoy for the Trump administration amid reports of conflicts of interest related to his role as a top Middle East negotiator.
The , filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) on Wednesday, argues that courts should block Kushner from his role because he has not been subject to Senate approval and financial disclosure requirements that are required for people with his level of power.
CREW argues that such requirements, set out by the Constitution’s Appointments Clause and the Ethics in Government act of 1978, were instituted to ensure that government officials who wield such power as Kushner are properly vetted by lawmakers and the public. Kushner holds his position “in clear violation of these protections,” the lawsuit states.
“Jared Kushner is required to follow the Constitution and federal law, and if he has nothing to hide, he should welcome the opportunity to go through the Senate confirmation process and show the public everything is above board,” said CREW president Donald K. Sherman in a statement. “Instead, he has decided to act as though he is above the law and ignore it.”
The lawsuit comes after recent reports revealed overlapping interests between his private equity firm and the Middle Eastern parties that he negotiates with as a White House representative.
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Earlier this month, CNN found that Kushner’s firm, Affinity Partners, holds the largest stake in a Tel Aviv-based company that has significant stakes in arms makers that supply the Israeli military.
Additionally, The New York Times reported that Kushner has been trying to raise $5 billion or more for Affinity from Middle Eastern states this year while he was representing the U.S. in negotiations in the region. This spring, Affinity reported $6 billion in assets, with 99 percent belonging to foreign investors such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
As President Donald Trump’s “special envoy for peace,” Kushner has led or been involved with numerous high-level diplomatic missions to the Middle East, including talks with Iran prior to the launch of the 2026 U.S.-Israeli war on the country, alongside fellow special envoy Steve Witkoff.
“The interplay and overlap between his government role and private business interests present a heightened risk of financial conflicts of interest,” CREW’s lawsuit states. “Nonetheless, Kushner continues to exercise significant government power while circumventing the very protections put in place to guard against such conflicts.”
The lawsuit also requests that the court requires Kushner to file financial disclosures covering his time as special envoy for peace.
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