US Vice President JD Vance has dismissed as "completely bogus" a media report alleging that senior White House advisers Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff sought to financially profit from their roles in US-Iran negotiations, saying he never received the private message reportedly warning him about the matter.
Vance made the remarks in a post on X while responding to the report on Thursday (local time). "This is completely bogus. I never received a message like this," he said.
He added that had he received such a message, his response would have been that Kushner and Witkoff were "trusted members of the president's team and very dear friends". Vance said the two advisers had done more than anyone to work towards "peace and prosperity in the region" and rejected the allegation that they had traded on insider information.
"I see a lot of BS flying around and I normally just ignore it. But Steve and Jared are good dudes and I'm honored to work with them," Vance said.
His comments came in response to an attached media report alleging that Iran had calculated USD 9 billion in profits from alleged "market manipulation" by "individuals close to President Donald Trump", primarily Kushner and Witkoff. The report further claimed that Iran had requested USD 4.5 billion of the alleged amount be allocated to it through intermediaries.
According to the report, the information was attributed to an update by a senior Iranian official to the 'Drop Site' news website. It also alleged that Iran had privately warned Vance during negotiations in Switzerland that Kushner and Witkoff were "abusing" the talks.
The report claimed the two advisers were allegedly more interested in using insider knowledge to profit from financial markets than in reaching an agreement. It further alleged that Iran had warned Vance that the exchanged messages could eventually become part of the historical record.
Vance categorically denied ever receiving such a message and rejected the allegations against the two advisers. He reiterated that Kushner and Witkoff were trusted members of Trump's team and said they had been working towards peace and prosperity in the region.
The controversy comes at a time when the White House has also confirmed that a long-time teleprompter operator for President Donald Trump is under federal investigation over alleged insider trading on a prediction market platform.
Also read: Rain fury: Six killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
The White House said on Thursday that the individual had been placed on unpaid administrative leave. Responding to a question during a press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was aware of the matter and considered the allegations "deeply unfortunate".
"Obviously, I'm aware of the report. The President is too. I spoke with him about it. He believes it's deeply unfortunate and frankly a disgrace," Leavitt said.
She added that the individual was cooperating with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) but would not be working as the President's teleprompter operator while the matter was under scrutiny.
Leavitt said the White House maintained strict ethical guidelines and stressed that the decision to place the employee on unpaid administrative leave had been taken by the President.
"Well, the White House has extremely strict ethical guidelines with respect to issues like this," she said, adding that the individual would no longer be at the White House and that the administrative leave was unpaid.
Follow us
