SEC dropped probe into company one month after it gave Kushner family a $180 million loan

The Securities and Exchange Commission last year dropped an inquiry it was making into financial firm Apollo Global Management shortly after it agreed to loan Jared Kushner's family's business $180 million.

According to the Associated Press, "Apollo said in its 2018 annual report that the SEC had halted its inquiry into how the firm reported the financial results of its private equity funds and other costs and personnel changes," whereas it had "previously reported that the Obama administration SEC had subpoenaed it for information related to the issue."

While there is no evidence that Kushner lobbied the SEC to drop its inquiry of Apollo, the timing of the events is certain to raise eyebrows. The New York Times reported this week that Apollo made a massive loan to Kushner Companies last year shortly after its chief executive met with Kushner at the White House.

The Apollo loan isn't the only Kushner-related loan deal coming under more scrutiny, either. The Intercept reported on Friday that Kushner Companies tried unsuccessfully to lobby Qatari Finance Minister Ali Sharif Al Emadi to try to secure an investment for its troubled property at 666 Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Just one month after Qatar's government turned down the loan request, the country found itself blockaded by a group of nations led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates -- and Kushner was reportedly a driving force inside the administration of supporting the blockade.