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发帖数: 5617 | 2 https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/us-warned-kushner-about-wendi-deng-
murdoch/ar-AAuK3U1
U.S. Warned Kushner About Wendi Deng Murdoch
WASHINGTON—U.S. counterintelligence officials in early 2017 warned Jared
Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, that Wendi
Deng Murdoch, a prominent Chinese-American businesswoman, could be using
her close friendship with Mr. Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, to further
the interests of the Chinese government, according to people familiar with
the matter.
U.S. officials have also had concerns about a counterintelligence assessment
that Ms. Murdoch was lobbying for a high-profile construction project
funded by the Chinese government in Washington, D.C., one of these people
said.
The project, a planned $100 million Chinese garden at the National Arboretum
, was deemed a national-security risk because it included a 70-foot-tall
white tower that could potentially be used for surveillance, according to
people familiar with the intelligence community’s deliberations over the
garden. The garden was planned on one of the higher patches of land near
downtown Washington, less than 5 miles from both the Capitol and the White
House.
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Ms. Murdoch in 1999 married Rupert Murdoch, who is the executive chairman of
News Corp, which publishes The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Murdoch filed for
divorce in 2013. Ms. Murdoch still uses her married name.
The counterintelligence officials didn’t provide Mr. Kushner with details
about their assessment of Ms. Murdoch, the people familiar with the
interaction said. The warning was part of an effort by national-security
officials to highlight to Mr. Kushner, who was new to government, the need
to be careful in his dealings with people whose interests may not align with
those of the U.S., the people added. Ms. Trump, who in late March announced
she would take a formal White House role, wasn’t present for the
counterintelligence warning. Neither Ms. Murdoch, Mr. Kushner nor Ms. Trump
has been accused of any wrongdoing.
It is common for counterintelligence officials to warn senior members of a
new administration about interactions with people with foreign connections,
and such briefings sometimes refer to specific people, according to people
familiar with the protocols.
A spokesman for Ms. Murdoch said she “has no knowledge of any FBI concerns
or other intelligence agency concerns relating to her or her associations.”
He added that she “has absolutely no knowledge of any garden projects
funded by the Chinese government.”
A representative for Mr. Kushner and Ms. Trump described Mr. Kushner’s
interaction with officials warning him about Ms. Murdoch as a “routine
senior staff security briefing.” He added that Mr. Kushner “has complied
with all ethics and disclosure recommendations and has played a helpful role
in strengthening the U.S.-China relationship so as to help bring about a
better resolution to the many issues the countries have.”
In response to questions from the Journal about Ms. Murdoch and the garden,
a representative from China’s Embassy in Washington called the Journal’s
information “full of groundless speculations.”
U.S. officials have been concerned about Chinese government efforts to use
people with close ties to the administration and with interests or family in
China to try to influence policy. For example, Las Vegas casino magnate and
Republican National Committee finance chairman Steve Wynn, whose Macau
casinos can’t operate without a license from the Chinese territory, last
year delivered a letter to Mr. Trump from the Chinese government about an
alleged fugitive Beijing wants the U.S. to return, the Journal has reported,
citing people familiar with the matter. A representative for Mr. Wynn has
denied the episode
Ms. Murdoch, who is a U.S. citizen, has been friends with Ms. Trump and Mr.
Kushner for years.
Ms. Trump posted a photo on Instagram of her travels in Croatia with Ms.
Murdoch in 2016. Ms. Murdoch posted a photo of Ms. Trump and Mr. Kushner at
Mr. Kushner’s birthday party in 2016, and one of her with Ms. Trump at an
inauguration event last year with the caption “Congratulations @ivankatrump
” followed by two hearts. Ms. Murdoch was photographed arriving at the
couple’s Washington home in February 2017.
Ms. Trump also previously served as a trustee for funds set aside for the
children of Mr. Murdoch and Ms. Murdoch, according to people familiar with
the matter. Ms. Trump stepped down from that role in December 2016, the
people said.
The representative for Mr. Kushner and Ms. Trump said the two “have been
friends with Rupert and Wendi Murdoch for a decade before coming to
Washington and their relationship is neither political nor about China.”
The Chinese garden project at the arboretum in Northeast Washington had been
planned for more than a decade as a symbol of goodwill between the two
countries, akin to Beijing’s gift of pandas to the National Zoo in 1972.
The 12-acre project was to feature a lake and multiple gardens and
structures that could be used to host cultural programs. In 2003, Jiang
Zehui, a cousin of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, signed a letter of
intent with a U.S. Agriculture Department official to build the garden. In
January 2011, then-President Hu Jintao traveled to the U.S. and was
presented with a model of the project by Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, then
the vice president and secretary of state, respectively. In October 2016,
following an agreement by then-President Barack Obama and Chinese President
Xi Jinping, there was a groundbreaking ceremony.
The project has since been shelved because of the counterintelligence
concerns, according to people familiar with the national-security issues.
Representatives for the USDA and the Chinese Embassy both said they
continued to work on the project but declined to provide details of any
developments since the groundbreaking. “The two sides are working closely
preparing for the actual construction work,” said the Chinese Embassy
representative, without elaborating. Journal reporters who recently visited
the arboretum couldn’t locate any evidence of construction. An empty meadow
sat at the planned site.
Mr. Kushner and Ms. Trump emerged in early 2017 as important points of
contact for Beijing in the new White House after early tensions between the
two countries, the Journal has reported. Ms. Trump attended a Lunar New Year
party at Beijing’s embassy in Washington last February and later posted a
video of her daughter singing a New Year’s song in Mandarin, which went
viral in China. Mr. Kushner was instrumental in setting up the meeting last
spring between Messrs. Trump and Xi at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in
Florida and accompanied him to Beijing in the fall.
The Kushner family real-estate company, Kushner Cos., also has pursued
business in China, holding advanced talks with Anbang Insurance Group Co.
for an investment of as much as $1.25 billion in a New York real-estate
project. The talks broke off in March 2017. Mr. Kushner had earlier sold his
stake in the project and other properties to family members.
Ms. Murdoch has previously surfaced on the radar of counterintelligence
professionals, according to a person familiar with the issue.
After reports that she was romantically involved with former British Prime
Minister Tony Blair while still married to Mr. Murdoch, British security
officials discussed with U.S. counterparts whether the alleged relationship
could be cause for concern, according to a person familiar with the matter.
At the time, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said there was reason to be
watchful about Ms. Murdoch, but that they hadn’t looked into her in detail
, the person said. Mr. Blair and Ms. Murdoch have denied any impropriety in
their relationship. Representatives for Mr. Murdoch, Mr. Blair, Ms. Murdoch,
the FBI and the U.K. Embassy in Washington declined to comment on the
matter.
Generally, U.S. counterintelligence officials have been warning of potential
attempts by the Chinese government to exploit ethnic Chinese living in the
U.S. who have both access to power and family back in China, giving Beijing
leverage.
Ms. Murdoch, the daughter of a factory director, came to the U.S. in 1988,
studied at Yale University’s business school and later landed a job at News
Corp.’s Star TV in Hong Kong, where she met Mr. Murdoch. After marrying
the media magnate, Ms. Murdoch helped arrange business deals for News Corp
in China and met with top politicians including Jiang Zemin, the Journal
previously reported.
Ms. Murdoch’s spokesman said she occasionally traveled to China with Mr.
Murdoch but played down her role in business dealings there.
Write to Kate O’Keeffe at [email protected]
and Aruna Viswanatha at [email protected] |
