Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) speaks during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, September 28, 2023.
Mandel Yan | AFP | Getty Images
Top Democrats on the House Oversight Committee asked oil executives to reveal whether former President Donald Trump attended a recent fundraising dinner in Florida, according to a letter released Tuesday by Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md. A “quid pro quo” arrangement was proposed to them.
These letters are from The Washington Post reports On April 11, Trump hosted senior executives for dinner at his private club Mar-a-Lago. “You’re all rich enough,” Trump reportedly told guests. “You should raise $1 billion to put me back in the White House.”
The former president later reportedly told oil executives that he would reverse the Biden administration’s freeze on LNG export licenses, auction more oil drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico and lift restrictions on liquefaction if they helped him win re-election. Natural gas export regulations.
Raskin wrote that the report raised “significant potential ethical, campaign finance and legal issues.”
Raskin, the senior Democrat on the oversight committee, wrote that the problems “stem from the effective sales and business interests of U.S. energy and regulatory policy in exchange for substantial campaign contributions.”
Raskin asked senior executives to describe any discussions they had at the dinner related to policy proposals or campaign finance, as well as any efforts by the executives’ respective companies to support Trump’s campaign.
On March 5, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida, the United States, Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump expressed his overall views on Mar-a-Lago before a watch party event to commemorate the “Super Tuesday” primary election.
Marco Bello | Reuters
These letters have been sent to Chevron CEO macworth, CEO of Exxon Mobil Darren Woods, CEO of Continental Resources Robert Lawler, Chesapeake Energy CEO Domenic del Oso, CEO of Occidental Petroleum Corporation Vicki Holub, Global Venture Capital CEO Mike Sabel, Cheniere Energy CEO Jack Fusco, CEO of EQT Group Toby Rice and CEO of major oil lobby group American Petroleum Institute Mike Summers.
A spokesman for the Trump campaign did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on the congressional request.
Trump is unlikely to be the first presidential candidate to sequentially make campaign promises to certain groups while asking for donations.
But just hosting an executive from one industry at a candidate’s residence, such as Mar-a-Lago, raises eyebrows.
The company is prohibit Donate directly to presidential candidates.they can PAC Its employees can make private donations, but neither party can do so if the donation is intended as a bribe in exchange for preferential treatment.
Despite Raskin’s request and his May 27 deadline to respond, Raskin will be unable to force any oil company executive to hand over information as long as the Republicans hold the majority in the House.
Still, Raskin’s decision to demand answers from Trump’s dinner guests could benefit his fellow Democrats in different ways.
That’s because business executives often go to great lengths to avoid becoming the target of congressional requests for information.
The prospect of being embroiled in the Raskin investigation may be enough to make some private-sector leaders reconsider accepting an invitation to Trump’s small fund-raising dinner.
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