10.17.18

Durbin, Duckworth Press For Full Disclosure Of Trump Family Business Ties In Saudi Arabia

Letters to President Trump and Trump Organization cite tens of millions in known Trump-Saudi transactions, seek business freeze during Khashoggi investigation and termination in event of Saudi government responsibility

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), along with Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) and eight other Senate Democrats, wrote to President Donald Trump and to the Trump Organization seeking a full accounting of any financial ties between the Trump Organization and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Senators’ letters follow the disappearance and reported killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a resident of the United States and Washington Post journalist, whose whereabouts have been unknown since he entered a Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on October 2.

On Tuesday, President Trump tweeted: “For the record, I have no financial interests in Saudi Arabia (or Russia, for that matter).” But as the Senators note in their letter today, “According to public reports, the Trump Organization for decades has maintained business relationships with the government of Saudi Arabia and members of the Saudi royal family…Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s few remaining absolute monarchies, and the source of immense petro-wealth. The wealth acquired from oil and gas is frequently used abroad in pursuit of its political interests.”

“It is imperative that this sanctions determination, and U.S. policy towards Saudi Arabia generally, are not influenced by any conflicts of interest that may exist because of your or your family’s deep financial ties to Saudi Arabia,” the Senators continued.

The Senators are also seeking responses to a series of questions and requests for documents by November 17, 2018, including: documents pertaining to financial transfers from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Trump Organization over the last 10 years; information about discussions surrounding potential business deals involving Saudi Arabia and the Trump Organization; and information about any potential gifts provided to the president by Saudi nationals.

Along with Durbin, Duckworth, and Udall, the letter was also signed by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR).

The full text of the letter to the president is available here. The letter to Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump at the Trump Organization is available here.

-30-