Whitehouse: Trump Made 'Obvious Quid Pro Quo' to Oil Executives

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) said Sunday on MSNBC's “Velshi” that former President Donald Trump made an “obvious quid pro quo” when he allegedly asked for a $1 billion donation from oil executives during a meeting at his Mar-a-Lago resort last month.

Whitehouse said, “The problem we have is a little bit like the House. If we issue subpoenas, as the Judiciary Committee did to pursue the payments made to Justice Thomas, the Republicans said they would not enforce the subpoenas and they said they don't comply and we won't let them enforce it. I would expect something like that to happen. So a lot of this work is being prepared for is the day when perhaps the House comes back into Democratic hands and subpoenas can be enforced without winning a filibuster. A lot of preparatory work can go into that. It's not like we are losing a lot of time, but the real game day begins after the November election when we find out whether we can enforce subpoenas against this industry or if the Department of Justice decides to have a look into this because they don't need a vote of the Senate to investigate.”

He added, “What we see here is massive predication for an investigation to look into the context of what was said around it and what paper trail exists or was there a deal leading up to this that he had to confirm publicly in order to cement it? What is the context, and you cannot make a case without investigating the context. But this really demands to be investigated. It is obvious quid pro quo. You give me $1 billion and I will give you relief from regulations that protect the public health against your product.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

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