PRESS RELEASE Contact: press@congressionalintegrity.org
For Immediate Release
Date: May 10, 2023
Six-Figure Campaign Will Pressure Republicans to Investigate Blatant Corruption of Trump Family
Washington, D.C. – Ahead of James Comer’s over-hyped press conference about his investigations into President Biden and his family, Congressional Integrity Project is launching a new six-figure, monthslong campaign demanding James Comer and House Republicans investigate obvious corruption and influence peddling by the Trump family while Donald Trump was President. The campaign follows a letter sent to Representative Comer last week demanding such an investigation and detailing instances of what appears to be influence peddling by Jared Kushner and Trump’s three eldest children while he was serving as President. While Republicans have spent five years relitigating one debunked conspiracy theory after another related to President Biden, they have obstructed any scrutiny whatsoever of influence peddling by the Trump family which took place in broad daylight.
The campaign includes a new website chronicling profiteering and influence peddling by Kushner and Ivanka, Don Jr. and Eric Trump, a billboard in Comer’s congressional district, and a digital advertising campaign targeting Comer and Republicans in the DC metro area, in Comer’s congressional district in Kentucky, and in the districts of vulnerable House Republicans – John Duarte (CA-13), Lauren Boebert (CO-3), Tom Kean Jr. (NJ-7), Mike Lawler (NY-17), Marcus Molinaro (NY-19), and Brandon Williams (NY-22).
The new site, TrumpFamilyInfluencePeddling.com, highlights the many instances where Donald Trump’s children and son-in-law profited off of their names and connections in order to make foreign business deals with governments Trump was working with in his role as President. The website and digital ads will also direct Americans to a petition they can sign demanding that Comer and Republicans investigate Trump family corruption and influence peddling.
The campaign kickoff also includes a new video pointing to the lack of credibility Comer and Republicans have over the outlandish, evidence-free claims they’ve made about President Biden while ignoring the billions of dollars Kushner and Trump’s family made from foreign deals while Trump was in office and immediately after he left.
Over the next several months this campaign will include additional advertising, events, protests, and visibility tactics including billboards, airplane banners, mobile billboards, and projections in Washington, DC and in key Republican congressional districts.
“It has been over a hundred days since Comer said his committee would investigate the Trump family and they have been radio silent on announcing hearings or sending letters requesting information,” said Congressional Integrity Project Executive Director, Kyle Herrig. “Comer would rather use his time to hold conspiracy theory-filled hearings and go on Fox News and Newsmax than hold these investigations that are all teed up for him. If Comer actually cared about potential influence peddling and corruption, he would be investigating how, Ivanka, Don Jr., Eric, and Jared Kushner profited off their time in the White House instead of these baseless political stunts.”
Watch our new video calling out Comer and Republicans for their lack of credibility here
Take a look at just some of the things Comer could be investigating:
Less Than Six Months After Leaving The White House, Jared Kushner’s Firm Received A $2B Investment From Saudi Arabia Despite Widespread Opposition From Committees In The Saudi Government. “Ms. Maloney’s letter refers to disclosures, first published by The New York Times in early April, that the Saudi government’s main sovereign wealth fund invested $2 billion in Mr. Kushner’s firm despite objections from one of its own internal committees over his lack of relevant investment experience. That investment occurred less than six months after Mr. Kushner left his post in the White House — a role that had given him broad oversight of the administration’s diplomacy efforts in the Middle East.” [New York Times, 6/2/22]
Jared Kushner Held Contacts With Foreign Officials He Did Not Officially Report Or Clear With The National Security Council. “H.R. McMaster, President Trump’s national security adviser, learned that Kushner had contacts with foreign officials that he did not coordinate through the National Security Council or officially report.” [Washington Post, 2/27/18]
In April 2017, Ivanka Trump Received Three Trademark Approvals In China The Same Day Ivanka And Her Father Dined With Chinese President Xi Jinping. “On the same day Trump and his daughter dined with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago in Florida in April 2017, China awarded her three preliminary trademark approvals for jewelry, handbags and spa services.” [LA Times, 10/10/19]
In 2017, Donald Jr. And Eric Trump Promoted A Project In India With A Picture Of President Trump, Noting The Tie With “POTUS,” While Taxpayers Covered Security Costs. “In 2017, the Trumps marketed another project in India — this one in Mumbai — with a picture of President Trump, calling it ‘an opportunity worth its weight in gold’ to be associated with ‘celebrity & POTUS Donald Trump’s Trump Organisation,’ using the abbreviation for president of the United States and the British spelling for organization.” [LA Times, 10/10/19]
Here’s how House Republicans have impeded investigations into actual instances of influence peddling in the past:
James Comer Has Been Silent About The Trump Family’s Corrupt Foreign Business Dealings—Even Though Over 100 Days Ago, Comer Said He Would Investigate. “House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., suggested Sunday that ‘influence peddling’ in the Trump administration will be part of the Republicans’ investigations in the new GOP-controlled House. […] ‘And I think the influence peddling with respect to the Trump administration will be a part of our overall investigation, because both Democrats and Republicans have complained about this with the previous two administrations,’ he said. ‘So something needs to be done. Also, something needs to be done with respect to how classified documents leave the White House and go to the post-presidency…. That’s another issue we will try to fix from a legislative point of view.’” [Fox News, 1/15/23]
In 2019, House Oversight Republicans Refused To Investigate “Disqualifying Issues” with Jared Kushner’s Security Clearance, Voting Against Subpoenas. During a House Oversight Committee meeting, then-Ranking Member Jim Jordan (R-OH) and all other committee Republicans attempted to block efforts to subpoena an ex-White House official after a whistleblower witnessed Trump administration overrule “disqualifying issues,” including foreign influence, in order to give his son-in-law and prospective White House advisor Jared Kushner proper security clearance. All 15 Republicans on the committee voted against authorizing the subpoena. [The Hill, 4/2/19]
- Two Months After House Republicans Voted Against Investigating Kushner, Jared and Ivanka Fundraised for Top Oversight Republican Jim Jordan. “Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump will reportedly appear at a fundraiser next month for Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, and Trump, the president’s daughter and adviser, will reportedly appear at the July 18 event hosted by the American Conservative Union PAC, Politico reported Tuesday. The event will take place at the home of the PAC’s president, Matt Schlapp.” [The Hill, 6/25/19]