Kushner Associate Linked To Russia-Funded Facebook, Twitter Investments

A Russian tech magnate who holds shares of a company co-owned by President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner invested millions of dollars backed by the Kremlin into Twitter and Facebook, a report on Sunday revealed.

Yuri Milner used shadowy off-shore shell companies he controlled to invest Kremlin cash in the tech giants, who came under scrutiny by federal and congressional investigators for running bogus ads during the 2016 election from troll farms linked to Moscow, The New York Times reported.

Milner, who now lives in a $100 million home in Silicon Valley, got $191 million from state-controlled VTB Bank and invested the money in Twitter.

And Russian energy giant Gazprom, which the Kremlin employs for special deals, used a shell company to invest in a Milner-affiliated company that held about $1 billion in Facebook shares before its initial public offering in 2012, the Times reported, citing documents obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

Milner ended up owning more than 8 percent of Facebook and 5 percent of Twitter, but his companies sold those holdings years ago.

His companies still have more than a $1 billion invested in Airbnb, Spotify and the Chinese retailer Alibaba.

He also still has a share in Cadre, a real estate venture that Kushner, a top White House adviser, founded and partly owns.

Milner, 55, said the investment in Cadre was for commercial reasons only and he said he met Kushner once – over cocktails last year.

“I’m not involved in any political activity. I’m not funding any political activity,” he said.

He also called his investments into Facebook and Twitter “commercial” arrangements and wasn’t aware VTB and Gazprom were involved. Both state institutions are under US sanctions punishing Russia for its interference in Crimea in 2014.

Kushner did not comment for the Times report.

The news comes as special counsel Robert Mueller ramps up his investigation into Russian meddling in the election.

Last Monday, his team indicted Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager, and his longtime business associated Rick Gates on 12 counts, including tax fraud, conspiracy against the United States and money laundering.

The misdeeds allegedly occurred while they were working for a pro-Russian politician in Ukraine.