FT: US Democrats pledge "aggressive" Trump investigations if they win midterms

Democrats would launch an aggressive congressional investigation into President Donald Trump, his family, business partners and billionaire allies if they gain control of the House of Representatives in the November midterm elections, Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, told the Financial Times.

“The single biggest part of our work is going to be focused on the Trump crime family,” Garcia said.

“If you are involved in any way with the Trumps, and if you’re part of an American business, you’re going to respond to the Congress,” he added.

Garcia said his priorities would include gathering evidence that could potentially support impeachment proceedings against Trump and investigating business dealings involving members of the president’s family. He also said he intended to question billionaire Elon Musk.

Garcia said he believed Trump had “committed crimes” and “impeachable offences, and I think it’s our job to build the case and to provide the evidence”.

He said he had questions for Donald Trump Jr., including how companies backed by his investment firm received multimillion-dollar Pentagon contracts and why a Russian businessman spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Trump Jr.’s wedding celebrations in the Bahamas.

Garcia said congressional investigators could have more success obtaining information from the Trump family’s business associates through subpoenas.

“We will get the information, whether it’s directly from the Trumps or through those that engage with them,” Garcia said.

The Financial Times has previously reported on business dealings involving Trump family members and cryptocurrency ventures, as well as links between companies backed by Trump Jr. and government contracts. The Trump family and its associates have denied wrongdoing, while the White House has rejected allegations of conflicts of interest.

Garcia’s plans are conditional on Democrats gaining control of the House after the November elections. Under his proposed oversight agenda, the committee would also examine issues involving the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, corporate involvement in administration policies and donors to proposed projects involving the White House.

By Sabina Mammadli