House Dems open investigation into Trump's acceptance of $400 million jet from Qatar

Yahoo

15-05-2025

FIRST ON FOX: House Democrats are opening an investigation into President Donald Trump and his administration's acceptance of a $400 million private jet from the Qatari government.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, led his fellow Democrats on the panel in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House counsel David Warrington on Thursday.
They're specifically asking Bondi to hand over a reported legal memo she wrote that is meant to assert the legality of Trump accepting the plane on behalf of the U.S.
"Any legal memo purporting to make such a claim would obviously fly in the face of the text of the Constitution's Foreign Emoluments Clause, which explicitly prohibits the President from accepting any 'present [or] Emolument... of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State' unless he has 'the Consent of Congress,'" the letter reads.
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"Accordingly, we are writing to request that you provide the Committee on the Judiciary with these memos immediately as their analysis and conclusions are apparently the basis for the President's decision to disregard the plain text of the Constitution."
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Raskin and the other Judiciary Committee Democrats went so far as to accuse Trump or people in his orbit of soliciting a bribe from Qatar.
"President Trump's statements expressing displeasure with delays in the delivery of his new Boeing aircraft to serve as Air Force One and the timing of this 'gift' suggest that President Trump or a member of his Administration may have improperly solicited this 'nice gesture' from the Qatari government," the Democrats said, citing Trump's own comments.
"The fact that, according to President Trump, the plane would not remain in service to the United States but would rather be donated to his presidential library after his term concludes further raises the possibility that this 'nice gesture' is intended as a bribe to Donald Trump."
Multiple outlets reported that Bondi and Warrington drafted a legal memo that said it was "legally permissible" for Trump to accept the plane and then have it transferred to his presidential library when he leaves office.
A source familiar with the discussions told Fox News Digital the memo was drafted by the Office of Legal Counsel and signed by Bondi.
But Democrats suggested the memo was likely not sufficient grounds for Trump to bypass Congress on the issue, and pointed out Bondi herself had previously lobbied on Qatar's behalf.
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"The Constitution is clear: Congress — not the Attorney General or the White House Counsel — has the exclusive authority to approve or reject a gift 'of any kind whatever' given to the President by a foreign government," the letter said.
"We would also note that, even if the Attorney General had a constitutional role to play here, Attorney General Bondi has a significant and obvious conflict of interest given her prior registration as an official agent of the Qatari government and earned no less than $115,000 per month lobbying on its behalf."
When reached for comment on the matter, a source close to Bondi said only that the letter was received by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
In addition to looking for the memo itself, the Democratic letter also asked for any communications and other records regarding the Boeing plane's transfer, and discussions of the gift's legal justifications.
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have little power to compel Trump administration officials to comply, given their status as the minority party in the chamber.
But Raskin has been scrutinizing Trump and his inner circle over family foreign ties since the former president's first term.
The latest letter comes during Trump's diplomatic visit to the Middle East, where Qatar was one of his stops.
Trump has defended his acceptance of the plane on multiple occasions, arguing he would be a "stupid person" to not take it, while bashing Democrats for their criticism.
"So the fact that the Defense Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40 year old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for the plane. Anybody can do that! The Dems are World Class Losers!!!" Trump wrote on Truth Social this week.
Senate Republicans said they knew little when asked by Fox News Digital earlier this week.
Meanwhile, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., skirted the issue during his most recent weekly press conference.
"I'm not following all the twists and turns of the charter jet. My understanding is it's not a personal gift for the president of the United States, and other nations give us gifts all the time, but, I'm going to leave it to the administration. They know much more about the details," Johnson told reporters.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately hear back.Original article source: House Dems open investigation into Trump's acceptance of $400 million jet from Qatar