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Kushner and Grenell "openly used their relationship with Edi Rama, the Prime Minister of Albania, from whom then-President Trump received unconstitutional payments while serving as Commander-in-Chief."
Democrats in the US Senate have requested an investigation into Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, for his business deals abroad, specifically in Albania.
A new letter from top Democrat Jamie Raskin signals that Democrats are likely to put Kushner in their crosshairs if they retake the House in November's elections.
Earlier this month the New York Times reported that Kushner is closing in on a lucrative real estate deal in Albania and Serbia.
The plans in the Balkans capitalize on relationships Kushner forged during the Trump administration: they are being worked on with Rich Grenell, who served as acting director of national intelligence under Trump and as ambassador to Germany and special envoy to the Balkans.
Democrats alleged that Kushner and Grenell "openly used their relationship with Edi Rama, the Prime Minister of Albania, from whom then-President Trump received unconstitutional payments while serving as Commander-in-Chief."
A Democratic report revealed that Rama and his advisers spent about $6,000 to stay at the Trump Hotel in D.C., then owned by the former president.
One of the proposed projects is said to be the development of an island off Albania into a luxury tourist destination known as Sazan. The island was used as a secret military base for submarines during the Cold War.
Another project is a planned luxury hotel, 1,500 residential units and museum in Belgrade, Serbia. It would be on the site of the former headquarters of the Yugoslav Army, which was destroyed in 1999 by NATO bombing, one of Serbia's parliament and Kushner's company told the Times.
Grenell has worked on the disputes between Serbia and Kosovo.
The projects involve land currently controlled by governments, meaning they will need the state's signature on the projects.
"This Committee cannot claim to be 'investigating efforts by foreign nationals' to target and coerce family members of senior US officials by offering money or other benefits in exchange for certain actions, while continuing to ignore these issue", wrote the Democratic legislators.
A third project in Albania will build several hotels and hundreds of villas on the Zvernec peninsula, a coastal area in southern Albania, part of the tourist community known as Vlorë.
Albania is becoming one of the fastest growing tourist hotspots in Europe.
Kushner told the Times that the deals, through his investment firm Affinity Partners, have not been finalized but are "very close."
Kushner's firm is already being targeted by Democrats for the $2 billion in financing it received from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.
Kushner was closely involved in Trump's Middle East policy during his presidency and capitalized on the relationships he developed during that time to close deals, including a close relationship with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia.
Grenell, meanwhile, is rumored to be in the running for secretary of state in a possible second Trump administration. He has been unapologetic about his efforts to use relations with the government to bring investment to Albania.
"We are looking for opportunities to invest through foreign investment in the Balkans, but more specifically in Albania, and the Albanian coast is wonderful," Grenell said in a past interview for a Balkan newspaper.
In a television interview in Albania last year he insisted that there was nothing wrong with such arrangements now that he was a private citizen.
"I'm working on projects, private equity projects, that I can make money on," he said. No one should ever apologize for wanting to make money.
Last week, during an impeachment hearing, Raskin made a request to subpoena Kushner for information about his investment firm./Daily Mail
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