In the world of it does not get any crazier than that – well we have ourselves a crazier one.
Please indulge me this week because sometimes you just know you fell off planet Earth and are in a “you would not believe what I dreamed last night” type of dream, only it’s not a dream.
And so, my dear readers today’s mystery sits in Albania.
And can I just start by saying, “When I grow up, I want to buy an island too.”
Can I buy one strategically positioned at the point where the Adriatic Sea becomes the Ionian Sea approximately 56 miles from Italy making it the single most important geographic location in the area. In other words, whoever controls this island, Sazan Island, controls the Strait of Otranto.
Then of course, I will take the 3,600 nuclear survivable bunkers when looking for my island, there are that many on Sazan and I love the idea of the 10 miles of underground tunnels connecting command posts, ammunition stores, submarine pen holds, hideouts, and deep-water anchorages already there.
I hear there is an island just like that, but Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner bought it up before I could get to it.
These advanced island security measures were taken during the Hoxha regime. But (naïve head scratch) who is vying for this type of security measures now and why?
Kushner says he is going to turn the island into a luxury resort.
What a plot twist, huh?
And the Saudis backed the deal, along with the Albanian government facilitating it.
Did I mention this little chokepoint between Albania and Italy is the only maritime gateway between the Adriatic and the Mediterranean Sea?
Actually, Kushner is not outright buying the island. Affinity Partners is outright buying it – he is just the founder and CEO of the company.
There are a few little glitches to the purchase in addition to the weird timing, but that is your rabbit hole.
You can start with this Forbes article and go from there: www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2026/06/03/why-jared-kushner-and-ivan….
“Kushner’s development has raised widespread environmental concerns – given the planned developments sit within an environmentally protected area home to numerous wildlife species – with 41 environmental groups sending a letter to the Albanian government in January calling for “the immediate suspension of any decisions advancing the construction” the article reports.
Many Albanians have begun to protest the new development, and unrest has grown along with protesters being forcibly removed from the area.
So, while people in Albania do not really have the stomach for this luxury resort, the business leadership suits for Affinity Partners are the types that do not care.
Regarding the environmental issues mentioned above, a law passed in Albania in June 2024 removing the strict construction bans inside restricted areas like Sazan Island and allowing for resort contracts and airports to be located inside these restricted areas.
There are no coincidences.
Did I mention Sazan Island is in NATO waters.
Weird bedfellows since Affinity Partners is a privately owned partnership, and other than Kushner (remember when he pitched real estate/geopolitical redevelopment strategies at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos) there is a long list of leadership team members with lots of question marks.
It’s said the leadership and key executive team at Affinity Partners is comprised of former Trump administration White House officials and private equity professionals.
Hey, you have to work, right?
Co-Founder & Managing Partner Bret Pearlman, who is a Managing Director at Blackstone (the primary competitor and an intricately linked peer to BlackRock in global asset management).
Asad Naqvi, Partner & Investment Committee – is the former Managing Director at Apax Partners, one of the world’s largest global private equities firms.
Avi Berkowitz, a Partner, and part of the Investment Team who has government affiliations in that he is the former Assistant to the President and U.S. Special Representative for International Negotiations and worked under Kushner in the White House to coordinate foreign policy in the Mediterranean and Middle East.
Beyond the core partners, the firm’s team is largely drawn from former U.S. government officials and reportedly these key staff members include John Rader (COO), former Deputy Assistant to the President for Strategic Initiatives and served on the National Security Council (NSC) and just a little tidbit this man also works with Palantir.
Ian Brekke (Chief Legal and Compliance Officer) the Deputy General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during the Trump administration.
Cassidy Dumbauld Luna (Chief of Staff) who served as a special assistant to the President and closely advised Jared Kushner inside the White House.
Chad Mizelle (Senior Legal Officer) who served as the Acting General Counsel for the DHS (2020–2021) and Chief of Staff at the agency.
The investment and research team is supported by figures such as Kevin Hassett who is currently the director of the White House economic council, what a conflict of interest there.
On June 2, the Organized Crimes and Reporting Project released a probe into the land deal and said they found the actual land itself was owned by another shell company called Albanian Land Development.
That company is owned by Redi Struga who controls South Adriatic Development via another firm, Smart Construction Invest.
Through this network, Struga helps facilitate co-investments between Kushner and Qatari billionaire brothers Ramez and Mohamad Al-Khayyat and they have a ton of holdings and are affiliated with names like the Kastrati Group and of course a Rothschild must be involved, in this case Baron Nathaniel Rothschild.
With the list of who’s who names and head scratching connections this complex web of local land holding companies – including Struga’s firms – came under heavy scrutiny amidst local protests. Albania’s anti-corruption agency (SPAK) even launched investigations into how protected coastal land was transferred, freezing assets linked to the broader development.
But not really because they unfroze the assets as soon as the next media alert could overshadow the story.
Either way, the thing I love about these old money dealmakers sipping their scotch, and playing the waiting game, they do it with pure excellence and eventually all the pieces fall into place.
Someone can knock those pieces right off the board though?
It will happen when people say, “we do not want to play anymore.”
That, or maybe we will get an invite when the luxury resort opens for business.
Rita Cook is a freelance writer for The Ellis County Press. She can be reached at rcook13@earthlink.net.