Oil bigwigs open wallets for Trump after billion-dollar request
by Rachel Frazin and Taylor Giorno - 10/31/24 6:00 AM ET
Oil and gas tycoons made significant contributions to the Trump campaign after the former president asked the industry for $1 billion to support his reelection bid — and reportedly said it would be a “deal” for them to do so.
A source told The Hill earlier this year that the $1 billion request at an April fundraiser was not framed as any sort of quid pro quo. Nevertheless, Democrats have described the incident as corruption and said they would investigate it, and this was the first election where several oil industry donors opened their pockets for Trump.
Two executives who reportedly attended Trump oil industry fundraisers this spring later made significant contributions to Trump-aligned political committees — something they hadn’t done in previous presidential cycles.
Cheniere Energy CEO Jack Fusco donated $250,000 to the joint fundraising Trump 47 Committee in June, according to records from the FEC. The committee then distributed $6,600 to the Trump campaign and $243,400 to the Republican National Committee (RNC).
As a joint fundraising committee, the Trump 47 Committee allocates funds to the Trump campaign and the RNC and, once the contribution limits are maxed out, to other participating political committees.
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https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4961820-oil-bigwigs-open-wallets-for-trump-after-billion-dollar-request/
