Investigate Trump's Venezuela Oil Deal and Its Corrupt Ties

Demand a full congressional investigation into Trump's Venezuela oil deal. This arrangement hands a century-long concession over 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil to a company whose CEO, Alejandro Betancourt, was under active federal investigation for money laundering through Miami real estate — until prosecutors were reportedly pushed to drop the case. That is not a coincidence. That is corruption. The Pentagon now holds a 35 percent stake in this company. The State Department gets preferred oil access. And Americans are paying $4.15 a gallon at the pump while Trump promises relief that experts say is four to ten years away, if it ever comes at all. Elliott Abrams, Trump's own former special representative on Venezuela, called this deal "a kind of fever dream of what colonialism looks like." Senator Jack Reed was equally direct: this is "a blatant abuse of power and taxpayer dollars." Congress has both the authority and the obligation to investigate who benefits from this deal, why federal prosecutors were stopped from pursuing Betancourt, and whether any undisclosed payments flow to Trump or his associates. Hold hearings. Subpoena the records. Do your job.