United States – On Thursday, US Senate finance and budget committees began scrutinizing presidential candidate Donald Trump over his stated willingness to remove several environmental policies in exchange for $1 billion in campaign support.
Allegations and Inquiries
The move comes a week after the chair of a key House committee asked nine oil firms about claims of bribes, quid pro quo propositions offered by the former president at a campaign rally in his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida this spring, as reported by Reuters.
“As Mr. Trump funnels campaign money into his businesses and uses it as a slush fund to pay his legal fees, Big Oil has been lobbying aggressively to protect and expand its profits at the expense of the American taxpayer,” wrote Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden of Oregon and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.
The media wrote that Trump earlier pledged to scrap dozens of the Biden administration’s environmental regulations and measures during a meeting with key US oil industry representatives, at which he also requested the latter contribute USD 1 billion to his presidential campaign.
Congressional Response
The committee chairs also sent letters to several energy CEOs and one energy trade group, opening a new tab asking for any literature distributed at the fundraiser where Trump demanded his “quid pro quo”—policy overviews of what was discussed at the event, copies of any proposed policy changes or executive orders being considered there, and details on donations these companies made to the Trump campaign.
Industry Reaction
The American Petroleum Institute, one of the organizations that received the Senate letters, characterized the probe as “an election year stunt.
“API meets with candidates and policymakers to discuss the need for sound energy policies, and this meeting was no different,” said API spokesperson Andrea Woods, as reported by Reuters.
Reported Promises
Trump had said at that event that he intended to offer more leases for oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico, roll back restrictions on drilling in the Alaskan Arctic, and end the pause on exporting LNG, as well as his distaste for wind energy, some media reported.
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