Report: U.S. Officials Warned Kushner to Be Wary of Wendi Deng Murdoch

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner received a warning from U.S. counterintelligence officials in early 2017 that Chinese-American businesswoman Wendi Deng Murdoch may try to use her friendship with him to lobby the interests of the Chinese government, The Wall Street Journal reports. A source familiar with the situation told the Journal that Murdoch, who has close ties both to Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, was suspected of lobbying for a planned $300 million Chinese garden in Washington, D.C. The project reportedly set off alarm bells because it included a 70-foot tower that intelligence officials feared could be used for surveillance. Kushner was not given any details about the intelligence community’s assessment of Murdoch, an ex-wife of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, but was advised to be wary of any individuals who might be representing the interests of foreign governments, according to the report. A representative for Kushner and Trump said the warning came as part of a “routine senior staff security briefing.” A spokesman for Murdoch said she has “no knowledge of any garden projects funded by the Chinese government.”