WASHINGTON—Toronto-based real estate giant Brookfield was not attempting to influence the White House when it acquired a troubled Manhattan office building from the family of U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior aide Jared Kushner, Brookfield said Tuesday.Brookfield is facing scrutiny from the Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives over the 2018 deal, in which the company paid up front to acquire a 99-year-lease in a 41-storey tower whose mortgage debt of more than $1 billion the Kushner family had struggled to deal with for years.Brookfield has rejected any suggestion of impropriety. No evidence of wrongdoing has emerged.The Democratic skepticism has centred on one of Brookfield’s investors, the government of Qatar, which has high-stakes political dealings with Jared Kushner. Kushner, who says he recused himself from the Kushner Companies upon taking his role in the White House, is married to the president’s daughter Ivanka Trump, and he has a central role in the administration’s Middle East policy.The U.S. website Axios reported last week that Democratic committee leaders were seriously contemplating formally investigating the deal in some way. One Democratic member of Congress, Rep. Ted Lieu, called the transaction “really troubling.”Brookfield spokesperson Andrew Brent said the Qatar Investment Authority had no advance knowledge of the acquisition and now has only a minimal stake in the 666 5th Ave. building.Read more:Report: Kushner family firm pays $1.1B for 6,000 apartmentsBrookfield Asset Management to acquire 62% of Oaktree Capital ManagementReport says Trump demanded top-secret clearance for KushnerBrent said the acquisition was simply a good investment. Brookfield sees untapped potential in the building, will spend hundreds of millions to improve it, and did not consider Jared Kushner’s White House role in deciding to acquire it, he said.The Qatar Investment Authority owns pre ...
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