House Democrats Investigating Trump Over Reports He Promised Oil Executives Policies In Exchange for One Billion Dollars
AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) announced on Tuesday that House Democrats have opened an investigation into former President Donald Trump offering oil executives favorable policy initiatives in exchange for $1 billion in campaign contributions.
“Media reports raise significant potential ethical, campaign finance, and legal issues that would flow from the effective sale of American energy and regulatory policy to commercial interests in return for large campaign contributions,” Raskin, the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, wrote in a Tuesday letter. The Democrats on the Oversight Committee sent letters to the heads of Chevron, ExxonMobil, and seven other oil companies. The letters requested “any information you may have about quid pro quo financial agreements related to U.S. energy policy that were reportedly proposed at a recent campaign fundraising dinner with ex-President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago Club that you appear to have attended.”
The Democrats announcement of the probe also cited the reporting on Trump’s meeting with the oil executives and his request for a massive campaign donation in exchange for favorable policies:
On May 9, 2024, the Washington Post reported that former President Donald Trump held a 20-person “Energy Round Table” with top oil and gas executives at his Mar-a-Lago Club on April 11, 2024. According to the reporting, the former President sought $1 billion in campaign contributions from the industry executives in exchange for an explicit promise that, if elected, his Administration would roll-back environmental regulations. Former President Trump reportedly pledged to take specific official actions to end the freeze on permits for new liquefied natural gas exports, start auctioning off more leases for oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, and rescind rules that reduce emissions from cars.
According to the Washington Post, former President Trump told industry executives, “You all are wealthy enough” and that “you should raise $1 billion to return me to the White House.” He also claimed that “[g]iving $1 billion would be a ‘deal’” because of the taxation and regulation he would help them avoid.
With the Democrats in the minority in the House, their ability to conduct an investigation is limited. However, the Guardian reported that “the junior senator from Rhode Island, Sheldon Whitehouse, who chairs the Senate budget committee, has expressed interest in launching an investigation into the meeting as well.”
“Trump’s offer of a blatant quid pro quo to oil executives is practically an invitation to ask questions about Big Oil’s political corruption and manipulation,” Whitehouse said in a statement. Senate Democrats pursing the matter would allow investigators to issue subpoenas and hold hearings.
This is a developing story and has been updated.
