WASHINGTON, Sept 28 (Reuters) – It is expected that companies that donated to the president of the United States, Donald Trump, and business participants brokered by members of the Trump family will be among the first targets of investigations if the Democrats assume control of the House or the Senate, Capitol Hill officials, lawmakers and lawyers told Reuters.
The control of either chamber after the midterm elections, in November, would give the Democrats the power to subpoena and the financial resources to bolster the investigative staff. This would allow them to launch inquiries as early as February and potentially trigger lengthy legal battles that would place the Trump family’s business empire squarely in the crosshairs.
The investigations could dominate the second half of Trump’s term, after two years of negotiations in which the family expanded into the cryptocurrency, drone, artificial intelligence and predictive markets sectors, while the president’s personal fortune rose by about US$2.2 billion.
“I don’t think the Democrats will have patience. They will demand the documents very quickly. They won’t enter into that old game of running out the clock,” said Ashley Callen, a lawyer at the Jenner & Block firm who previously served as the general legal counsel to the Speaker of the House, Republican Mike Johnson.
The Democratic Speaker of the House, Hakeem Jeffries of New York, told reporters on September 17: “We will hold criminals accountable, from day one.”
The Trump administration criticized the prospect of investigations. “The Democrats have no agenda to improve the lives of the American people, only plans to obstruct and attack, without basis, the President Trump’s common-sense agenda,” White House spokesperson Olivia Wales said in a statement emailed to Reuters.
The companies are a ripe target for investigations because, unlike the White House, they cannot claim that their activities are protected by executive privilege.
Of particular interest are the cryptocurrency companies tied to Trump and Donald Trump Jr.’s venture capital firm, 1789 Capital, according to Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. Both warned, however, that there is not yet a definitive list of targets.
Companies with links to Trump and his family are making urgent preparations, including hiring lawyers for internal audits and crisis-communications firms for public-relations actions, according to interviews with corporate legal counsels, crisis-management specialists, congressional aides and lawmakers.
Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island released a report on Thursday stating that oil and gas companies received tax exemptions, subsidies and more flexible environmental regulations after Trump asked them for US$1 billion in donations during the 2024 presidential campaign. This is another potential line of investigation.
FOCUS ON THE TRUMP FAMILY
Representative Adam Schiff, Democrat from California, issued a warning to the companies not to erase any records related to transactions with Trump and his administration.
“We can make life very difficult for the government if you abuse the legitimate oversight requests of Congress,” Schiff said in an interview, citing Congress’s power over funding for agencies.
Among the transactions Schiff is focusing on is the proposal to sell a portion of Yosemite National Park to a private developer with ties to Republican campaign committees. “In this administration, everything is for sale, including our most precious jewels, like Yosemite,” he said.
But the Democrats’ main target appears to be the Trump family — especially Donald Jr., who has struck a string of business deals since his father took office.
“The presidential family has been making money in heaps,” Schiff said.
Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, “is a corporate executive with whom we will, without a doubt, need to speak,” said Raskin, who could become the head of the powerful Judiciary Committee if the Democrats take control of the House.
He said Kushner had not responded to two letters questioning the dealings of his private equity firm, Affinity Partners, with “monarchies and oil-rich governments” in the Middle East, while he represented the United States in diplomatic negotiations.
Raskin highlighted the deals Kushner struck with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates while he served as presidential envoy. “That is a blatant conflict of interest,” he stated.
Kushner is the United States’ special envoy for peace, but he is not a public employee. Federal officials are subject to rules prohibiting involvement in activities that could yield financial benefits.
Chad Mizelle, Kushner’s lawyer, stated in a release that the allegations against him are false. “And, to date, no one — not even Jared’s critics — has identified a single rule or regulation applicable that he has violated,” Mizelle said.
Raskin also highlighted a US$620 million Pentagon loan to the rare-earths startup Vulcan Elements, announced about three months after an investment by 1789, Don Jr.’s venture capital fund.
“He seems to possess almost clairvoyant sensitivity to know exactly who will receive government contracts and who will obtain favorable regulatory treatment from the government under the Trump administration,” Raskin said.
In a Reuters statement, a Vulcan spokesperson said the company “did not ask or solicit from its investors to facilitate the Pentagon loan” and that it would continue to engage with Congress in “good faith.”
1789 Capital hired the renowned law firm Quinn Emanuel to handle Congressional investigations and has signaled its intent to resist the Democrats’ probes.
“1789 Capital welcomes legitimate congressional oversight,” it stated in a September 9 letter to Congress, “but has no intention of being hostage to political maneuvering.”
In a Reuters interview, a 1789 spokesperson said that “Representative Raskin presented no evidence of wrongdoing, only politically motivated accusations,” adding that his letter showed “a troubling lack of financial literacy.”
RISK TO CORPORATE EXECUTIVES
Republican Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota dismissed the need for such investigations and told Reuters that Democrats could face a negative voter reaction for “being obsessed with Donald Trump, his personal life and his business, instead of focusing on issues that matter to the American people.”
But some Republicans may join the Democrats’ efforts. Freshman Republican Senator John Curtis of Utah urged that Don Jr. be investigated for allowing a Russian oligarch to pay for his wedding celebrations in the Bahamas.
Companies will have to decide whether to promptly cooperate with the investigations, which could incur Trump’s wrath, according to some lawyers. A lack of cooperation with Congress could expose executives to legal risk and draw a negative reaction from consumers.
“There is always reputational risk in any Congressional investigation,” said Kevin Edgar, a partner at BakerHostetler and a former Congressional aide.
A lawyer who asked to remain anonymous to protect his clients said an ideal outcome could actually be for the White House to file suit to prevent them from providing information on executive privilege grounds. “That would give them the chance to say, ‘Daddy and Mommy, tell me what to do,’” the lawyer said.
Some companies were already forwarding information requests to the White House.
In a July 1 letter, previously unreleased and seen by Reuters, Clark Construction, the contractor responsible for the ballrooms, responded to a Blumenthal request about “rising costs” by stating that the terms of the contract required all information to come from the White House.
Blumenthal, who is set to chair an investigative committee, told Reuters: “We will use our subpoena power, for sure,” if the Democrats win control of the Senate in November.
