Overview
- A Vanity Fair excerpt from Matthew Cole's new book published Friday says the Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) used material from a cooperating Russian hacker to obtain screenshots of Jared Kushner's phone.
- Cole's account says the screenshots, gathered starting in 2017 and into early 2018, showed Kushner accessing a Dubai bank account that received hundreds of millions of dollars in transfers from a bank in Azerbaijan.
- The reporting says MIVD's access was limited to viewing the iPhone X screen rather than taking full control, but the book fragment gives little technical detail about how the vulnerability was exploited.
- Kushner has publicly denied the claims and called them false, the Dutch Ministry of Defence refused to discuss MIVD methods, and reporters have not produced independent bank records or forensic proof.
- If the account is accurate, it could prompt legal and influence probes into a former White House adviser and create diplomatic tensions for the Netherlands, while former intelligence officials note such findings are often used quietly for strategic advantage.