Kushner Says Book's Phone and Money Claims Never Happened

Jared Kushner's legal team plans to pursue action over an excerpt from an upcoming book that describes foreign intelligence agents viewing his phone screen and Gulf leaders routing money into accounts bearing his name. Kushner rejected the account Thursday night, and the White House called the book's sourcing fabricated.

The excerpt, published Thursday in Vanity Fair, is drawn from "Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed's Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East" by journalist Matthew Cole. It covers Kushner's tenure as a senior White House adviser during the first Trump administration, when he took a leading role in U.S. Middle East policy and helped negotiate agreements involving Israel, Gulf states, China and Russia. CBS News has not independently verified the excerpt.

According to the excerpt, Dutch intelligence learned in 2017 that Russia had gained access to Kushner's iPhone after turning a Russian spy. The account says the Dutch agents then obtained access themselves and, when Kushner used the device, could view his screen and capture every image he looked at. It further alleges the agents watched him log into a United Arab Emirates account that had received hundreds of millions of dollars from an Azerbaijan bank.

The book asserts Kushner had access to more than $2 billion in "slush money funds" from Middle Eastern leaders, described in the excerpt as money meant to buy "influence within the U.S. government." It claims Saudi Arabia's crown prince and the UAE's leadership placed at least $2 billion into several accounts connected to Kushner, one held at Israel's Central Bank. The excerpt states those accounts were presented as official government bodies or charities but were meant for "off-the-books diplomatic objectives," and says Mohammed bin Salman placed roughly $1 billion into at least one account for Kushner's personal benefit, citing a person with knowledge of the money.

Kushner called the claims "completely insane and never happened" and said no bank statements, wire transfer records, account numbers or transaction dates were provided. His attorney called the claims "false and defamatory" and said legal action would follow. Steven White House director of communications Steven Cheung wrote on X that the source book is "complete fiction," fabricated by a "failed spy thriller writer," and contains no documentation, only "mysterious words from unnamed sources." CBS News asked the White House for comment and was directed to Cheung's post.

The book is scheduled for release at a later date.