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If Democrats Win: The Trump Family Deals They Say They Will Investigate

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Eleven days before the Nov. 3 midterms, Democrats are telling voters what a House majority would investigate first, and the Trump family deals lead the top Oversight Democrat’s list. Our running tracker of the Trump family’s documented deals records each transaction, and our comparison of Trump’s first and second terms shows how the pattern has changed.

None of these matters has produced a criminal charge or a court finding against Donald Trump, his relatives, special envoy Steve Witkoff or Jared Kushner. Each denies wrongdoing or says there is no conflict.

What Democrats say a majority would investigate

The Associated Press reported in late September that House Democrats are planning broad inquiries into the president, his family and his administration. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries put it in blunt terms: “we are going to hold the crooks accountable.” Rep. Jamie Raskin, the likely Judiciary chair, told the AP: “We need to zero in quickly on the forms of systemic corruption that have cost the public huge amounts of money.”

Rep. Robert Garcia, the senior Democrat on Oversight, has listed five priorities, and the family’s business dealings lead them. In a June interview with NOTUS, as reported by The Hill, he said Todd Blanche, then acting attorney general, and other officials are likely to face subpoenas on “day one” of a Democratic House. Separately, he named World Liberty Financial, contracts that went to close allies, and Kushner’s Gulf-funded investment firm as concerns: “Those things have to be investigated, because it is pure government corruption.” Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on Foreign Affairs, said his committee plans to look into Trump’s foreign dealings, including around the Iran war, the AP reported.

On impeachment, Jeffries said: “We haven’t ruled anything out,” he said, “and we haven’t ruled anything in.” No Senate majority agenda has been published.

The Trump family deals Democrats have named

World Liberty Financial and the UAE. According to The Wall Street Journal, as reported by CNBC, Aryam Investment, a company backed by Emirati royal and national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoon, bought a 49% stake in the family’s crypto company for $500 million, in a deal Eric Trump signed just before the 2025 inauguration. Of that, the Journal said, about $187 million reached the Trumps’ entities and $31 million reached the Witkoffs’. Months later, Washington agreed to let the UAE buy hundreds of thousands of advanced AI chips a year. ABC News reported that Witkoff, a World Liberty co-founder, earned nearly $107 million last year from a holding company tied to the firm. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly has said “[t]here are no conflicts of interest” and that Witkoff has now “fully divested from World Liberty Financial.”

MGX, Binance and a pardon. CNBC reported that MGX, an Abu Dhabi state investment firm, completed a $2 billion investment in Binance using USD1, the stablecoin issued by World Liberty. In October 2025 Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who had pleaded guilty in 2023 to enabling money laundering at the exchange. The White House said Zhao was prosecuted “despite no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims.” House Judiciary Democrats call the pardon a case of the family profiting from “pay-for-pardon schemes.” Binance and Trump both deny any link, CBS News reported, and Zhao calls his ties to the family “misconstrued.” Commerce later said it would “favorably review” chip licenses for MGX; CNBC noted there is no evidence the UAE money shaped that call, and Commerce pointed to the UAE’s standing as a major U.S. defense partner.

Kushner and Affinity Partners. In March, Garcia and Sen. Ron Wyden demanded answers about reports that Kushner was raising Gulf sovereign money while helping run Middle East talks. They estimated Affinity had earned $129 million in fees from Saudi Arabia’s state investment arm from 2021 to 2025. Affinity said it “abided by all laws and regulations and will continue to do so,” will not raise new capital while Kushner volunteers for the government, and earns fees only when investments perform. Kelly called the letters “the same, tired narrative that Democrats have pushed against President Trump, his family and his administration for a decade.” Kushner’s attorney called a later Garcia letter, about Affinity’s stake in Israel’s Phoenix Financial, “a masterclass in irony.” CNN found no sign his diplomacy affected those holdings, and Kushner called CNN’s report “deeply misleading.”

Not on the named list: Gulf licensing. Trump reported $59.5 million in foreign licensing income for 2025, and CNBC found that nearly two-thirds came from Gulf projects, but it also “found no evidence that any licensing payment influenced an administration decision.” The Trump Organization says it runs “completely separate from the presidency.”

Witkoff, Dmitriev and the Russia talks

Most of the Russia material sits outside any stated Democratic plan. Putin met Witkoff and Kushner at the Kremlin on Sept. 5. The Kremlin says envoy Kirill Dmitriev’s talks focus on economic ties. The Wall Street Journal, as relayed by Mediaite, reported that Witkoff, joined by Kushner, hosted Dmitriev at his Miami home, where Dmitriev pressed for U.S. firms to use roughly $300 billion in frozen Russian central bank assets for joint projects. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “The peace proposal was authored by the U.S.” Trump called the leaked document “just a map.”

In October, The New York Times reported that the talks had grown to include a pending sale of Lukoil’s foreign oil fields, refineries and gas stations, valued by Lukoil at $20 billion. The leading bidders, per the Times, include Todd Boehly, who has given $2 million to Trump’s political causes, two Middle Eastern groups with business ties to Kushner or the Witkoff family, and a U.S. government lender. A Witkoff spokeswoman said he “has no conflict of interest or financial stake in this matter.”

The Russia thread that has drawn direct challenges from both parties is Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding. A Putin-linked businessman, Umar Kremlev, helped pay for the celebrations. Garcia said the reporting “may be the most serious allegation against you to date,” addressing Trump Jr. Republican Sen. John Curtis asked Senate Judiciary to examine the payments, and Sen. Dick Durbin backed him, warning of the “risk of being complicit in a coverup.” Trump Jr. and his wife called Kremlev a “dear friend” who hosted the parties; the president defended Kremlev’s role and said the money would be paid back.

The diesel decision

In early October, Trump announced a deal with Putin to bring Russian diesel into the U.S. market. A bipartisan group of senators, among them Republicans Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Thom Tillis and John Curtis and Democrats Jeanne Shaheen and Richard Blumenthal, said the move “runs directly counter to that law,” meaning, in their view, the 2022 ban on Russian oil imports. Trump answered: “I made the right choice for the American People—always America first.” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the deal relies on existing legal authorities and that lawmakers who say the law bars it are “wrong.” No family or associate stake in the diesel deal has been reported, and no Democratic probe of it has been announced.

What the minority is doing now

In January, Meeks, Garcia and Rep. Gabe Amo asked the Commerce and State inspectors general to examine Witkoff, citing a disclosure showing he “still has a financial interest in WLF.” In August, Judiciary Democrats described a “cash-for-clemency” system that, by their count, has cost victims nearly $1.7 billion in restitution and fines. When Raskin pressed on pardons earlier, a Justice Department spokesperson replied: “I assume Raskin must have also sent a letter to Biden’s family after receiving blanket pardons?”

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The weakness, as CNN put it: minority requests “are voluntary and can be ignored without legal consequences,” and only a chair or committee vote can authorize a subpoena.

Issue What is documented Democrats’ stated plan Response
World Liberty / UAE stake 49% for $500 million (WSJ) Garcia priority; IG request No conflicts
MGX, Binance, Zhao pardon $2 billion deal settled in USD1 Judiciary staff report Binance and Trump deny a link
Kushner / Affinity $129 million in Saudi fees (estimate) Garcia and Wyden letters Affinity: followed all laws
Gulf licensing $59.5 million in 2025 Not specifically named Separate from the presidency
Russia talks, Lukoil Kremlin meetings; Lukoil bid (NYT) None; Garcia challenged Trump Jr. on wedding money Witkoff: no conflict or stake
Russian diesel Imports allowed; senators say it breaks 2022 ban Objection, no probe Bessent: within legal authority

The limits: Congress refers, prosecutors decide

Congress cannot bring charges. It can investigate, impeach and refer matters to the Justice Department, which Democrats say has not acted because “the president’s loyalists control the agency.” Blanche, Trump’s former defense lawyer, was confirmed to run it on Aug. 8 by a 50-49 vote.

The Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling in Trump v. United States gives a president absolute immunity for core constitutional powers and presumptive immunity for other official acts, though “There is no immunity for unofficial acts.” That shield does not cover other officials. The pardon power covers federal offenses, “except in cases of impeachment,” and not state charges. Trump says he is weighing pre-emptive pardons for his team; on pardoning himself, he said, “I don’t think about it because I did nothing wrong.”

Removal needs two-thirds of senators present. Raskin said in 2025 that impeachment is not a complete answer: “We’ve already impeached him twice.” Jeffries has warned officials that the five-year limit for federal charges “will extend well beyond the end of the Trump administration.”

The Republican and White House response

“They’ll probably go after me and I’ll go after them,” he told Time, adding in a later interview that he would rather his staff and relatives were spared federal inquiries. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise has told Fox News he believes Democrats would try to impeach Trump “on Day 1.” The AP reported that Democrats are bracing for the White House to ignore subpoenas. Blanche has called the conflict claims “a repeated story that isn’t true.”

Even Democrats pushing hardest for oversight urge care with labels. Rep. Jared Huffman, who wants to go straight into “oversight and investigation mode,” told The Hill: “Before we start calling something a crime or making use of these legal terms that actually have very important meanings, we need to investigate.”

What is not planned, or not known

  • No Democratic subpoena list or formal 100-day oversight plan has been published.
  • No Democratic plan targets Dmitriev or the Lukoil bid.
  • No Senate majority agenda has been published.
  • No Democratic leader has promised to prosecute Trump himself; the warnings target officials.

Federal law bars most non-capital charges unless they are filed within five years of the conduct, so actions taken in early 2025 remain chargeable until early 2030.

Frequently Asked Questions

Have Democrats released a list of people they would subpoena?

No. Rep. Robert Garcia says Todd Blanche and other officials would likely be subpoenaed early, and he has named World Liberty Financial and Kushner’s fund as priorities, but no formal list has been released.

Can a Democratic Congress prosecute Trump or his family?

No. Congress can investigate, subpoena, impeach and refer. Only prosecutors can bring charges, and the Justice Department is led by Todd Blanche, Trump’s former defense lawyer.

Are Democrats planning to investigate the Russia talks or Kirill Dmitriev?

Not the Dmitriev talks or the Lukoil bid. Meeks has said Foreign Affairs plans to look at Trump’s international dealings, and Garcia has publicly challenged Donald Trump Jr. over a Russian businessman’s payments for his wedding parties.

Has anyone been charged over these deals?

No. There is no charge or court finding against Trump, his relatives, Witkoff or Kushner over any of these deals, and each denies wrongdoing.

How long would prosecutors have to act?

Five years from the conduct for most non-capital federal offenses. State charges are separate and fall outside the federal pardon power.

Sources

This article is news reporting and analysis based on the public sources listed above, as they stood on the dates shown. Where officials, lawmakers or analysts disagree, including on whether an action is lawful, their positions are attributed to them; Donald Trump Class Action is not a court and nothing here is legal advice. Facts in a developing story can change.

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