Democrats are laying out potential investigations into President Donald Trump and his family if they reclaim the House majority in November.
Democrats have expressed concern over Trump’s relationships with foreign governments, such as the $400 million plane gifted by the Qatari government. Other investigations could include the administration’s handling of the release of the Epstein files, immigration enforcement tactics, and his family’s involvement in the cryptocurrency industry.
“The political and financial corruption driving the Trump presidency is a civic emergency,” House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) told the Washington Examiner. “Congress has a responsibility to confront all this corruption directly — to expose it and take all steps necessary to crush it as quickly as possible.”
Though they haven’t yet won the majority, Raskin previewed a list of potential areas of inquiry if they were to flip the House.
“Democrats may not yet hold the gavels, but we are already pursuing a broad range of investigations using every tool available to us,” he said. “That work includes scrutiny of, and opposition to, the $1.8 billion convicted criminal slush fund and Super Pardon for the Trumps; the weaponization of the Department of Justice against chosen enemies in the nonprofit world; the comprehensive Epstein human trafficking cover-up; rampant violations of the foreign emoluments clause and legal conflicts of interest by the President, Jared Kushner and other senior officials; and the theft and waste of public resources by Trump and his cabinet of corruption.”
House oversight committee ranking member Robert Garcia (D-CA) has echoed the same sentiment many times, as he said his committee is prepping an investigation into “Trump family corruption.”
Just last week, the New York Times reported that Trump’s and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s sons are poised to financially benefit from a mining deal the administration inked with Kazakhstan. The report said Trump’s sons soon thereafter invested in the project, which gave $1.6 billion to an American mining company, while Lutnick’s sons helped raise money for the venture.
As the Democratic committee leaders prep these investigations, rank-and-file members have gotten on board with the potential probes.
“I can tell you that every day it seems like I wake up and I see another fact pattern that certainly indicates corruption, and you know it gives me no satisfaction to be in a position where I feel like I have to opine on all these corrupt acts,” Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA) told the Washington Examiner. “I would much rather not, but some of the things are just so beyond the pale and what we’ve come to expect as Americans.”
While Democrats remain keen to advance these investigations, they have also stressed the importance of governing if they take the House for the last two years of Trump’s second term.
“It’s got to be holding the administration accountable for all the wrongdoing and getting as much done as humanly possible,” Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH) told the Washington Examiner when asked if he would be interested in pursuing investigations. “I think Democrats have to go on a tear in terms of meaningful bipartisan legislation, pass as many things as we possibly can that will improve people’s lives. I think that’s gonna be really cool.”
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But Republicans may throw a counterpunch, even if they lose the majority.
Semafor reported Thursday that the Justice Department could prepare its own investigations into corporations that don’t comply with congressional Republicans, giving the potential minority party rare power to exert investigative influence even if they lack subpoena power.