Dems Plan Retribution Under the Guise of Congressional Hearings

Companies that spent months preparing for the possibility of Democratic-led congressional investigations are now scrambling to respond.

After strong results in Tuesday’s election, Democrats have begun sending letters to businesses they plan to investigate, demanding records by Jan. 4, the first full day of the new Congress. Amazon, Apple, Live Nation and Walmart are among the companies contacted.

Voters’ concerns about affordability and corruption were key factors in Democrats’ return to control of both chambers of Congress, according to exit polls. The party has signaled it will take an aggressive approach to investigating major businesses.

“Usually investigations are an outgrowth of an election; this time it was the point,” said Rafi Prober, a partner at Simpson Thacher and co-head of the firm’s congressional investigations practice.

The Wall Stret Journal reports companies are moving with urgency. One recalled receiving a signed retainer from a client Wednesday after weeks without a response. Conflict-of-interest rules can limit which clients law firms accept, leaving some companies racing to find attorneys with congressional investigations experience.

Democrats have outlined a broad range of interests, with companies’ ties to President Donald Trump and his signature projects among their priorities. Two days after the election, Sen. Richard Blumenthal sent dozens of letters notifying companies that he intended to scrutinize them.

Blumenthal, who is set to chair the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, contacted companies including Amazon, Apple, BlackRock, Booz Allen, Coinbase, Google parent Alphabet, Microsoft, Salesforce, ServiceNow and Union Pacific. The letters cited the companies as known donors to a White House ballroom project.

Blumenthal also sent letters to cryptocurrency firms about their ties to the Trump family. He warned recipients that if they failed to respond by Jan. 4, he would have “no choice but to consider alternative measures to obtain compliance.”

Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee have also identified potential targets. On the eve of the election, they released a report titled “Nine Ways Trump’s Corruption Is Costing You,” which named Toyota, Walmart, Live Nation and major banks among companies that the report said received favorable government treatment after contributing to Trump’s inauguration.