Democrats probe Trump’s request for campaign cash from Big Oil

The Hill ^ | 5/14/24

[EBH]

House Democrats are probing President Trump’s request for $1 billion in campaign cash from major oil companies.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) penned a letter to CEOs of eight energy companies and an oil lobbying group that reportedly attended a dinner at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort with the former president last month.

Outlets, including The Hill, reported that at the dinner, Trump asked the industry to raise $1 billion to support his presidential campaign.

The Washington Post, which shared the story first, reported that getting him the funds would be a “deal,” because of all the money the industry would save in avoided taxes and regulations under his presidency

A source told The Hill that the discussion was not framed as any sort of tit-for-tat agreement.

But, in his letters to the energy executives, Raskin — the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee — described the incident as an “unvarnished quid pro quo offer.”

In light of a separate Politico report that said the oil industry was writing executive orders for the former president to sign, Raskin also wrote that companies “may have already accepted or facilitated Mr. Trump’s explicit corrupt bargain.”

[Ingtar]

In order to wish that, I would have to be convinced we have a side.