Democrats vow to pursue ‘Trump crime family’ after midterm elections

{"text":[[{"start":9.8,"text":"Democrats will be “aggressive” in pursuing the “Trump crime family”, their business partners and billionaire allies if the party triumphs in the midterm elections, the man set to lead a powerful congressional committee has pledged."}],[{"start":22.24,"text":"“The single biggest part of our work is going to be focused on the Trump crime family,” said Robert Garcia, the highest-ranking Democrat on the US House oversight committee."}],[{"start":34,"text":"“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."}],[{"start":42.32,"text":"In an interview with the FT, Garcia outlined his investigative priorities if he takes control of the committee’s agenda after the November elections, including amassing evidence that could lead to President Donald Trump’s impeachment and questioning Elon Musk."}],[{"start":57.6,"text":"Garcia said he believed Trump has “committed crimes” and “impeachable offences, and I think it’s our job to build the case and to provide the evidence”."}],[{"start":66.72,"text":"His comments come as Democrats — notably Georgia senator Jon Ossoff — have contrasted the Trump family’s alleged self-enrichment with America’s affordability crisis on the campaign trail in their push to flip the House and the Senate."}],[{"start":80.36,"text":"The FT last year revealed the Trump family had made at least $1bn through a variety of cryptocurrency ventures. Corporate donors from the crypto and tech sectors have developed close ties to the first family and been granted access to the president, with some receiving legal relief or pardons, winning government contracts or benefiting from policy changes."}],[{"start":101,"text":"“The scale and the scope of it is so outrageous,” Garcia said of alleged corruption in the Trump family and administration."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":108.2,"text":"He said he had a number of questions for Donald Trump Jr, including how some companies his firm invested in received multimillion-dollar contracts with the Pentagon and why a Russian businessman spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on his wedding celebrations in the Bahamas."}],[{"start":123.64,"text":"Garcia, who will have the power to compel witnesses to testify under oath if Democrats win, conceded that getting a member of the president’s family to testify in front of Congress would be “an enormous task” but “one that we’re going to be aggressive on”."}],[{"start":137.68,"text":"He said it would be easier to get their business associates to respond to subpoenas. “We will get the information, whether it’s directly from the Trumps or through those that engage with them,” Garcia claimed."}],[{"start":148.96,"text":"The FT last year reported that Trump Jr’s 1789 Capital invested in rare earths start-up Vulcan Elements shortly before it received a $620mn loan from the Pentagon. Another company he backed, drone group Unusual Machines, received a military contract."}],[{"start":166,"text":"Trump Jr’s spokesperson has consistently said he has had no involvement in negotiations with the government on behalf of 1789’s portfolio companies."}],[{"start":175.12,"text":"A Pentagon official said: “No company receives preferential treatment,” and added that “outside affiliations, investors or political connections play absolutely no role in the department’s funding decisions”."}],[{"start":186.84,"text":"The White House said: “Democrats have no agenda to improve the lives of the American people, just plans to obstruct and baselessly target President Trump’s commonsense agenda.”"}],[{"start":196.6,"text":"They added that Trump’s stock portfolio is “independently managed by third-party financial institutions”, that all investment decisions are made entirely by independent managers and that there are “no conflicts of interest”."}],[{"start":208.8,"text":"While in the minority, Garcia has attempted to probe the business dealings of Trump Jr, the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff and commerce secretary Howard Lutnick. The California Democrat has also pursued crypto deals, including those involving Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, whom Trump pardoned last year. They have all denied any wrongdoing."}],[{"start":231.72,"text":"The House oversight committee will continue its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein no matter who holds power next year."}],[{"start":237.8,"text":"Garcia said that under Democratic leadership the panel would also focus on the “abuses” involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security “and anyone that’s ripping off the American public on the corporate side”. He expressed interest in Trump’s effort to build a new White House ballroom and Triumphal Arch, and renovate the Reflecting Pool."}],[{"start":257.16,"text":"He also said he has “a lot of questions” for Musk, especially regarding the billionaire’s actions while leader of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency."}],[{"start":265.2,"text":"While in the minority, Garcia and fellow Democrats have written to several large US companies, including Chevron, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, probing their involvement with the White House’s plan to take control of Venezuela’s oil."}],[{"start":279.6,"text":"Investigating the donors to Trump’s ballroom could involve some of America’s biggest companies, including Amazon, Apple, Google and Palantir."}],[{"start":288.48,"text":"But Garcia said it was important the committee was “focused” on the most egregious allegations of corruption. “I think we’ve got to be very thoughtful about what our priorities are,” he said."}],[{"start":299.08,"text":"Garcia has risen quickly to lead Democrats on the oversight committee since being elected to the House in 2022."}],[{"start":305.44,"text":"He immigrated from Peru to the US as a young child. After becoming a US citizen in his early twenties, Garcia was elected mayor of Long Beach — south of Los Angeles, California — in 2014. The first gay immigrant in Congress, he put up portraits of Superman in his Washington office because he learnt to read English from comic books."}],[{"start":325.6,"text":"Some Democratic colleagues worry that a drive to impeach the president — which would traditionally be led by the judiciary committee but could use evidence from Garcia’s investigations — could prove a political mistake that distracts from the party’s positive agenda."}],[{"start":339.28,"text":"Garcia said the party’s top priority should be to “slow and stop the Trump agenda”, but that delivering legislation on healthcare and the economy is “everyone else’s job”."}],[{"start":349.04,"text":"“My job is . . . to hold people accountable for the injustice and the crimes, and the corruption that is leading [to] people losing trust in government,” he said."}],[{"start":360.56,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1789714733_7365.mp3"}