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Kushner book denial

News · Heat 3.5 / 10 · 2 shows · 46m airtime

On October 27, 2026, Jared Kushner's lawyer issued a blanket denial of the claims in Matthew Cole's book Princes and Thieves, saying Kushner never accessed foreign accounts and always followed all rules and regulations. Cole's reporting sets out the counter-case: Kushner held no statutory authority, no Senate confirmation and for a time no security clearance, while MBZ and MBS floated a $10 to $12 billion fund to him in early 2017, one idea being to build Trump's border wall. That fund became $2 billion in alpha and beta accounts, and Cole's sources say Kushner was a signatory. Dutch intelligence hacked his phone in 2017 and saw his First Abu Dhabi Bank account, with money in from Azerbaijan and first transfers…

How 2 podcasts covered it

  1. The Daily Show: Ears Edition, 2026-10-27 (23:11 to 24:51)
    Reads the lawyer's blanket denial on air
    Opens the Matthew Cole interview by reading Kushner's lawyer's denial on air and getting Cole to confirm it is a blanket denial of everything in the book, before any of the book's claims are laid out.
    New angle: Kushner's lawyer says Kushner never accessed foreign accounts and always followed all rules and regulations.
  2. The Daily Show: Ears Edition, 2026-10-27 (24:55 to 30:31)
    Argues Kushner ran a shadow foreign policy
    Cole walks through the book's core allegation: Kushner ran a shadow foreign policy with MBZ and MBS, who would fund a deal favorable to Israel. Adds that Kushner had no statutory authority, no Senate confirmation and, for a time, no security clearance.
    New angle: Kushner had no statutory authority, no Senate confirmation and for a time no security clearance.
  3. The Daily Show: Ears Edition, 2026-10-27 (30:43 to 32:48)
    Details the floated $10 to $12 billion fund
    Cole details the book's central money claim: MBZ and MBS floated a $10 to $12 billion foreign policy fund to Kushner in early 2017, one idea being to build Trump's border wall. When that fell away, a smaller pool replaced it, which Cole likens to Iran-Contra.
    New angle: MBZ and MBS floated a $10 to $12 billion fund to Kushner in early 2017, one idea being to build Trump's border wall.
  4. The Daily Show: Ears Edition, 2026-10-27 (35:13 to 38:02)
    Details the alpha and beta accounts
    Cole details what became of the floated fund: $2 billion split into alpha and beta accounts at First Abu Dhabi Bank and the Central Bank of Israel, with alpha money routed to Erik Prince and a Cuban hitman to arm Haftar in Libya. He says his sources put Kushner on the account as a signatory.
    New angle: The fund became $2 billion in alpha and beta accounts; Cole's sources say Kushner was a signatory.
  5. The Daily Show: Ears Edition, 2026-10-27 (38:06 to 41:32)
    Walks through the Dutch hack of Kushner's phone
    Cole walks through the Dutch operation: NATO allies got into a Russian GRU server in 2017, found the Russians inside Kushner's phone, then read his First Abu Dhabi Bank account off his screen. He names the first two transfers out and declines to discuss sourcing, citing a grand jury subpoena.
    New angle: Dutch intelligence hacked Kushner's phone in 2017 and saw his First Abu Dhabi Bank account, with money in from Azerbaijan and first transfers out to Erik Prince and Khalifa Haftar.
  6. Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar, 2026-10-28 (13:56 to 44:35)
    Interviews Cole correcting his own book's fund count
    Long interview with Matthew Cole, who corrects the record on his own book: two funds, not three, plus a separate central-bank account meant as a rainy-day defense fund for Israel. He confirms the lawyer's defamation threat and says every one of his 50 or 60 questions was denied.
    New angle: Cole says there were two Kushner funds, not three, plus a central-bank account for Israel-UAE defense.
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