A progressive policy organization led by former aides to President Joe Biden and former aides to progressive Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. assembled a detailed blueprint for potential Democratic congressional investigations to target President Donald Trump and his allies beyond the White House, which could foreshadow the goals of the 120th Congress. Groundwork Collaborative's dossier, obtained and analyzed by Fox News Digital, maps Trump donors and corporate allies for potential Democratic congressional investigations.
Leaders in big tech and CEOs of large corporations are likely to be among the targets of the anti-Trump crusade. A longtime Democratic Senate staffer familiar with the process told Fox News Digital that the Democratic majorities on these committees already plan to exclusively focus on targeting allies and donors of the president, going as far as targeting the ones who donated to the new White House ballroom, once they move into the majority. HOUSE GOP LAUNCHES DEFENSE PLAN TO SHIELD TRUMP FROM LOOMING DEMOCRAT INVESTIGATIONS However, the staffer did not see the document, which specifically says to target those who gave to the ballroom, library, Trump’s inauguration and campaign.
Reports had said it was obtained by House committees as well, but a House Judiciary Committee aide for Democrats told Semafor it was "one of many" and dismissed it, saying, "We all get a lot of emails." But nevertheless, it could still show signs of where people on the left want the new Democratic majorities to go. Other plans outlined in the document include targeting Trump-aligned corporations, such as Tesla, Apple, Amazon, Oracle, Trump Media and World Liberty Financial. The letter also mentions Palantir's Alex Karp and Coinbase's Brian Armstrong by name, with possible hearings involving executives from OpenAI, Meta, Google, Microsoft, Oracle and others.
TAX BREAKS HELPING FUEL TRUMP'S LATEST TECH PUSH JUST LANDED IN DEMS' CROSSHAIRS Other priorities include investigating Trump's personal finances, proposing congressional scrutiny of Trump's tax arrangements, cryptocurrency businesses and alleged preferential treatment of corporate donors. The document continues, urging the committees to expand federal oversight of artificial intelligence, outline investigations into AI companies and proposals to restrict algorithmic pricing, workplace surveillance and certain autonomous AI technologies. This includes investigating the Trump administration's Medicare AI program, which uses the WISeR model, employing artificial intelligence systems to screen prior authorization requests in traditional Medicare to determine whether specific outpatient procedures are medically necessary.
The document adds that committees should increase scrutiny of private businesses through hearings, document demands and potential legislation targeting major employers, landlords, insurers and technology companies. TRUMP CMS FACES BIPARTISAN PUSHBACK OVER MEDICARE PROPOSAL TIED TO BIDEN-ERA DRUG PRICING LAW "We just had a midterm election where Democratic candidates across the country made the point that corporations have been doing very well for the last several years, while the typical family has been getting squeezed with higher prices and worse service," Bharat Ramamurti, a former Deputy Director of the National Economic Council who coordinated with Groundwork on the dossier, told Fox News Digital. "The oversight agenda is about trying to understand and figure out what exactly are these corporations doing, who's responsible for these decisions, and then what, as policymakers, can folks in Congress do about it," Ramamurti added.
Pages later in the document also mention plans for restricting corporate ownership and pricing practices. It discusses measures aimed at institutional housing investors, algorithmic rent-setting and corporate pricing systems. The document proposes investigating a reported settlement involving Trump's tax audits, including requesting information about the Chicago tower audit and questioning Treasury officials.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
