Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly bragged about having White House senior counsel Jared Kushner "in his pocket" and may have used highly sensitive intelligence from the President's Daily Briefing in his violent crackdown on dissent in Saudi Arabia, The Interceptreported Wednesday.
Three sources told The Intercept that Kushner had revealed names of Saudis disloyal to the crown prince.
"The Saudi figures named in the President’s Daily Brief were among those rounded up; at least one was reportedly tortured," The Intercept explained.
Mohammed bin Salman also was said to have told UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed that Kushner was "in his pocket."
Kushner communicates with both the Saudi and Emirati crown princes via Whats-App. A source claims that Kushner's lawyers have since told him not to use the app for government business.
Kushner's defense team denies leaking names of Saudi critics who were subsequently arrested and tortured.
“Some questions by the media are so obviously false and ridiculous that they merit no response," claimed Peter Mirijanian, a spokesperson for Kushner’s lawyer Abbe Lowell. "This is one. The Intercept should know better."
Jeremy Scahill, a founder of The Intercept whose name was not on the story's byline, explained his take on the bombshell report.
"This is a huge story on how Kushner allegedly shared information from the President’s Daily Brief with Mohammed bin Salman about his internal opponents," Scahill noted. "Looks like MBS used it to lethal consequences in his purge."