Senate Democrats Investigate Trump’s $1 Billion Solicitation From Oil Industry

Topline

Senate Democrats are probing whether former President Donald Trump and oil executives are scheming to trade campaign donations for industry-friendly policies if Trump wins a second term, The New York Times reported—the latest fallout fallout from Trump’s eyebrow-raising appeal to industry stakeholders at a Mar-a-Lago dinner last month.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the NRA ILA Leadership Forum at the National Rifle … [+] Association (NRA) Annual Meeting & Exhibits at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center on May 18, 2024 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

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Key Facts

The letter comes after Trump suggested in April to about two dozen oil industry executives that they should give $1 billion to his campaign, while simultaneously proposing rollbacks to drilling regulations, multiple outlets reported, citing anonymous sources who were present.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., sent a letter to eight oil executives and a trade group Thursday accusing them of “conferring on how to trade campaign cash for policy changes,” according to The New York Times.

The senators reportedly requested policy proposals drafted “for the purpose of potential use in a possible Trump administration,” along with documentation of campaign donations made to support Trump’s candidacy.

While it’s unlikely Trump’s pitch amounts to an illegal bribe, it was widely viewed as brazen and unethical among Democrats, including President Joe Biden’s campaign, which accused Trump of “straight up selling out working families for campaign donations from oil barons” in a statement following the revelations.

Wyden and Whitehouse used similar language in their letter Thursday, alleging “time and time again, both Mr. Trump and the U.S. oil and gas industry have proved they are willing to sell out Americans to pad their own pockets.”

The letters were sent to the chief executives of Cheniere Energy Inc., Chesapeake Energy, Chevron, Continental Resources, EQT Corporation, Exxon Mobil, Occidental Petroleum and Venture Global, and the president of the American Petroleum Institute lobbying group, according to the Times.

Chief Critic

“This is yet another election-year stunt to distract from America’s need for more energy, including more oil and natural gas, to power our economy and combat persistent inflation,” American Petroleum Institute spokeswoman Andrea Woods told The New York Times in a statement.

What To Watch For

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., also sent a similar letter to the energy executives and trade group earlier this month requesting “any information you may have about quid pro quo financial agreements” that were reportedly proposed at the dinner. Raskin is the top Democrat on the GOP-controlled House Oversight Committee.

Tangent

Trump headlined a fundraiser for his MAGA Inc. super PAC hosted by Energy Transfer’s Kelcy Warren, Continental Resources’ Harold Hamm and Occidental Petroleum’s Vicki Hollub in Houston on Wednesday, according to the Times.

Key Background

Among the policies Trump promised at the April dinner, he said he would roll back Biden’s moratorium on liquefied natural gas exports on his “first day” in office—a key priority for the oil industry. He also said he would undo the Biden administration’s limitations on drilling in the Alaskan Arctic and pave the way for more drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, The Washington Post reported. Trump told the room the $1 billion donation would be a “deal” for the industry in comparison to the savings he suggested they would net from his policy proposals. Trump has railed against Biden’s push for more electric vehicle manufacturing and solar energy, frequently repeating his promise to “drill, baby, drill,” if he’s elected again in November.

Big Number

$7.3 million. That’s how much the oil and gas industry had donated to Trump’s campaign and outside groups supporting his candidacy this election cycle, according to OpenSecrets.