UK Edition
Wendi Deng Murdoch link to FBI ‘spying’ alert
She is the glamorous former wife of a multi-billionaire who has mixed with the great and the good of Westminster and Washington life.
But Wendi Deng Murdoch, once married to media mogul Rupert Murdoch, is now facing questions about whether she used her high-flying connections for more than just socialising.
British intelligence officials reportedly discussed with the FBI whether Ms Murdoch’s friendship with Tony Blair, the former prime minister, was a cause of concern.
It was prompted by fears among the US intelligence community that Ms Murdoch had used her connections to lobby for the Chinese government.
The approach reportedly was made after claims that Mr Blair and Ms Murdoch had a romantic relationship – an allegation always fiercely denied by the pair.
US officials also warned Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, about his friendship with Ms Murdoch, according to US media reports.
They were said to have expressed fears that Ms Murdoch was pushing a Chinese garden project in Washington DC that some feared could be used for spying.
The allegations were first reported in the Wall Street Journal, a paper owned by Mr Murdoch, who divorced from his Chinese-American wife in 2013.
Michael Wolff, the journalist and Murdoch biographer, tweeted that Mr Murdoch had privately expressed concerns about his wife’s links to the Chinese government.
He wrote:
The tale of money, power, fame and alleged lobbying has cast Ms Murdoch in a new light after the fallout from her divorce from Mr Murdoch.
Ms Murdoch was once seen as her husband’s arch protector, famously knocking back a protester who tried to throw a custard pie at him during a 2011 parliamentary committee hearing.
After being born in China she studied at Yale University's business school before landing a job at Star TV in Hong Kong, which was owned by Mr Murdoch’s News Corporation.
The pair met and eventually married in 1999 - Ms Murdoch more than three decades younger than her husband - and begun living together in America.
It was during the marriage that Ms Murdoch got to know Mr Blair, the former Labour Party leader, and his wife Cherie.
Ms Murdoch also got to know Ivanka Trump, Mr Trump’s daughter, and her husband Jared Kushner, both regulars on the New York socialite scene.
Photographs taken in recent years show Ms Murdoch celebrating Mr Trump’s inauguration with Ms Trump and attending Mr Kushner’s birthday party.
But when Mr Kushner – now a White House aide - was briefed by intelligence officials about the threats of lobbying from foreign governments, it is alleged Ms Murdoch was raised as an example.
Officials said they had concerns Ms Murdoch supported a $100 million Chinese garden at the National Arboretum which was part-funded by the Chinese government, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The 12-acre garden, whose 70-foot-tall white tower was said to have become a national security risk, has not yet been constructed despite initial enthusiasm from the US government.
British security officials also reportedly discussed with US counterparts whether Mr Blair's links to Ms Murdoch were an issue.
The FBI said there was reason to be watchful about Ms Murdoch but added they had not looked into her in detail, according to the Wall Street Journal.
A representative for Mr Kushner and Ms Trump told the paper that Mr. Kushner's interaction with officials as a "routine senior staff security briefing”.
A spokesman for Ms Murdoch told the Wall Street Journal she "has no knowledge of any FBI concerns or other intelligence agency concerns relating to her or her associations”.
He added that she "has absolutely no knowledge of any garden projects funded by the Chinese government."
Whitehall officials reportedly refused to comment on the claims that British officials had approached the FBI.