WASHINGTON (AP) – Congressional monitoring of federal epidemic aid raises the possibility of Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President Donald Trump, and a struggling trucking company joining a 700 700 million relief loan.
Bharat Ramamurthy, a Democratic member of the four-member Congressional Oversight Commission, raised the potential Kushner connection at the hearing on Thursday as panel members from both parties challenged the Treasury Department’s decision to lend to the YRC worldwide. The loan, funded by the taxpayer, was made on the grounds that the company’s operations were important for maintaining national security.
Panel members questioned the decision to consider YRC’s business important for national security. It was the first and largest loan ever made under the national security portion of the Treasury Department’s corporate aid program, which has lent billions to large airlines and small air carriers.
According to the oversight panel, YRC received a separate loan of Rs 600 million from Apollo Global Management and several other lenders, arranged by Apollo, a large private equity firm that is YRC’s largest creditor. Joshua Harris, co-founder of Apollo, advised the Trump administration on infrastructure policy in early 2017 and met with Kushner, an adviser to the president. Later that year, Apollo paid Kushner’s family real estate company 4 4,184 million to help refinance its mortgage on the Chicago building, according to a New York Times report quoted by Ramamurthy.
Ramamurthy asked Treasury Secretary Steven Muchin if he had contacts with Kushner or his staff about the YRC loan. Munuchin said he did not have. Ramamurthy then escalated the question to a request for correspondence with anyone in the White House.
“This pays off for further investigation,” Ramamurthy said. He called the YRC a loan, “a fast-track, extremely generous loan that just happened to help” Apollo as a YRC creditor.
The Associated Press received no immediate comment from Kushner or his staff.
Apollo spokeswoman Joanna Rose said Thursday that Apollo was not involved in the YRC’s decision to raise funds. “We are the capital provider for thousands of companies. We are many lenders in YRC. This is not a company that owns or controls our funds. ”
Congressional monitors have found that taxpayers’ investments of 700 700 million could be at risk of losing money. The YRC had financial problems for years before the epidemic began and is at risk of bankruptcy.
Defending the loan, Munuchin said the YRC meets the criteria for companies deemed necessary for national security, as the Treasury Department has worked with the Department of Defense and the Office of the National Intelligence.
He conceded that taxpayers could lose money if the YRC failed and did not pay it back. “This was a risky loan,” Munuchin said, but he added, “We are lucky that the economy has improved. … The Treasury and taxpayers will eventually get very good returns.”
Munuchi noted that before the loan was approved this summer, many lawmakers asked the Treasury Department to help the YRC save jobs.
Rep. “If I were still in finance, I wouldn’t have taken this loan,” French Hill, R-Arch., A member of the panel who is a former banker, told Munuchi.
Located in Overland Park, Kansas, YRC provides transportation and logistics services, such as delivering food, electronics and other supplies to military locations across the country. The Department of Defense is a major YRC client, and is the leading Department of Homeland Security transportation provider.
The national security portion of the Treasury’s corporate corporate aid program, which has a pot of up to 17 17 billion available, was expected to be held earlier this year for hard-pressed aircraft maker Boeing or General Electric. They were able to tap private credit markets and did not seek government assistance.
To be eligible for national security assistance, companies must operate under a top national priority defense agreement or under top-secret security approval. The YRC apparently failed to meet either criteria, but is eligible under the “Kechl” provision, which approves the recommendation and certification of the Secretary of Defense or the Director of National Intelligence.
A four-member oversight commission was appointed by Congress leaders from both parties last spring to oversee the nearly 2 2 trillion in aid spending implemented by Congress and to be directed by the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve.
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