- John Kerry’s wife benefits from an investment of ‘at least $1 million’ in a hedge fund that specializes in investments with Chinese government-controlled funds
- His wife Teresa Heinz is the widow of wealthy late senator John Heinz and heiress to the Heinz family fortune, estimated to be worth more than $750 million
- The investment was revealed in Kerry’s filing with the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) in March
- Kerry’s filing says neither he nor his wife ‘exercise authority over the trust
- In his senior government role as Biden’s climate change envoy, Kerry regularly meets with Chinese diplomats and leaders
- He is in the delicate position of negotiating with the industrial superpower to cut deals on reducing carbon emissions
- Kerry’s 2021 filing says neither he nor his wife ‘exercise authority over the trust’, ‘have any control over the management of the trust investments’, and neither are trustees”
- George W. Bush’s former chief White House ethics lawyer Richard Painter told DailyMail.com the investments could pose an ethical problem for Kerry
- He said if the Chinese government tried to exert influence through his family’s investments, Kerry would have to stand down from climate change negotiations
Joe Biden‘s climate change envoy and former secretary of state, John Kerry, disclosed millions of dollars in Chinese investments held by his wife’s family trust, government documents show.
Kerry’s latest filing with the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) in March shows his wife benefits from an investment of ‘at least $1 million’ in a hedge fund that specializes in private partnerships and investments with Chinese government-controlled funds.
In his senior government role Kerry regularly meets with Chinese diplomats and leaders, and is in the delicate position of negotiating with the industrial superpower to cut deals on reducing carbon emissions.
A government ethics expert has raised concerns that the Chinese government, which has a substantial interest in several business partnerships Kerry’s wife’s family trust has invested in, could use the threat of derailing personal investments to put pressure on the Biden cabinet member.
George W. Bush’s former chief White House ethics lawyer Richard Painter told DailyMail.com the investments could pose an ethical problem for Kerry.
‘As soon as anyone even hinted that the Chinese government would try to do anything to pull the rug from those companies if he didn’t do what they wanted, at that point it would create a problem for him under US code 208 [a conflict of interest law for government officials].’
By JOSH BOSWELL
