Democrats Investigate Amazon, Apple, Walmart's Corporate Ties to Trump

Congressional Democrats are stepping up scrutiny of major U.S. companies’ ties to President Donald Trump after winning both chambers in the midterms.

Amazon and Apple received records requests over donations to Trump’s White House ballroom project, while a separate Senate committee report named Walmart over its inaugural contribution.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who is set to chair the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, sent dozens of letters two days after the election, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The ballroom donors he contacted also included BlackRock, Coinbase, Google and Microsoft. He sent separate letters to cryptocurrency firms about their ties to the Trump family.

Blumenthal gave recipients until Jan. 4, the first full day of the new Congress, to respond.

He warned that missing the deadline would leave him “no choice but to consider alternative measures to obtain compliance.”

Inaugural Donations and the Live Nation Settlement

Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee released a report on the eve of the election alleging that Walmart, Toyota, Live Nation and major banks received favorable treatment from the government after contributing to Trump’s inauguration.

The House Judiciary Committee has separately begun contacting lawyers involved in the government’s antitrust case against Live Nation.

Senior Justice Department officials settled the case at Trump’s direction.

Live Nation’s lawyers at Sullivan & Cromwell, which also represents Trump in some of his personal litigation, helped negotiate the deal at the White House.

A Live Nation spokeswoman said the settlement adequately addressed the government’s antitrust claims.

“We’re ready to walk any policymaker through how and why it was reached,” she said.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, who is set to chair the Judiciary Committee, has also said he is prepared to subpoena law firms that pledged pro bono work for causes favored by Trump as part of agreements to head off punitive executive orders.

Companies Prepare for Congressional Scrutiny

Democrats on key committees began asking companies to preserve documents months before the election.

In August, Rep. Jared Huffman sent such requests to two dozen companies listed as sponsors or partners of Freedom 250 LLC, the Trump-aligned group that organized the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations.

Chevron, Lockheed Martin and Mastercard were among them.

Some companies hired outside counsel months before the vote and began collecting records, interviewing employees and rehearsing for possible inquiries, according to lawyers and executives involved.

Lawyers say businesses are now moving faster to retain specialists, whose ability to take on clients is limited by conflict-of-interest rules.