1. United States
2. N.C.
3. Letter

How is it possible that in the third decade of the 21st century we have a corrupt presidential administration devolving into chaos over a power struggle for control over an American neo-colonial project in Venezuela? There should be flashing red lights over the emerging scandal within the Trump administration that reveals both pervasive corruption and a troubling pattern of corrupt resource extraction from Venezuela. A young Turkish businessman named Turhan Mildon married Trump's former personal attorney Alina Habba last month at a $10 million wedding attended by top administration officials including the FBI Director and White House Counsel. Mr. Mildon has deep ties to the Maduro regime and operates state-seized cement factories in Venezuela worth millions annually. According to multiple credible reports, Habba accused former Trump envoy Richard Grenell of misallocating a $5.6 million Kennedy Center donation from her husband that Mildon allegedly intended to contribute. Grenell denies the charges. White House Counsel Will Scharf is now investigating. What makes this scandal so egregious is its underlying structure. Both Grenell and Mildon competed to influence Trump policy toward Venezuela for personal gain. Grenell advocated for normalizing relations with Maduro to protect his own interests. Mildon held lucrative contracts awarded by Maduro cronies. When Secretary of State Marco Rubio's hardline faction prevailed and U.S. forces seized Maduro in January, both men lost influence and their conflicting interests exploded into the open. This scandal exposes a fundamental truth about the Trump administration: its Venezuela policy is not driven by democratic principles nor the best interests of the Venezuelan people, but by the financial interests of oligarchs gaining access to American power. The cement contracts, the confiscated shrimp businesses, the lucrative government concessions operated by a foreign businessman—these are hallmarks of neo-colonial plunder disguised as legitimate foreign policy. I urge you to investigate this matter thoroughly and to demand accountability from officials who have allowed the Oval Office to become a marketplace where access and influence are sold to foreign businessmen connected to authoritarian regimes. The Venezuelan people should not have their national patrimony squandered in corrupt business dealings. The American people deserve leaders whose priorities are the nation's values, not personal enrichment.