US Democratic Party takes aim at 'Princess of Darkness' fundraising scheme in Trump corruption investigation

As a result of the U.S. midterm elections, the Democratic Party, which has taken over the majority in the Senate and House of Representatives in the next Congress, is targeting President Donald Trump's private fundraising to investigate corruption allegations surrounding him.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 12th (local time), members of the Senate and House of Representatives who will serve as chairpersons of major Democratic standing committees in the next Congress sent a letter to President Trump's donation fundraiser, Meredith O'Rourke, the day before.

The letter was sent under the joint names of Rep. Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts), who will serve as chair of the Senate Banking Committee, Rep. Richard Blumansall (Connecticut), who will take the position as chair of the Permanent Investigations Subcommittee under the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Rep. Robert Garcia (California), who will be the next chair of the House Oversight Committee.

In the letter, they requested a list of all companies and donors from which O'Rourke requested donations, as well as the results of the requests. It also asked for information about O'Rourke's compensation structure and his role in meetings with business leaders.

The deadline for responses was set as November 25th.

WSJ evaluated this as an early example of numerous requests for information that will follow in the future, as the Democratic Party foreshadows an investigation into the unprecedented fundraising method established by President Trump and suspicions of pursuing private interests during his time in office.

O'Rourke is a well-known fundraising expert in the Florida area and is the person who oversaw all political fundraising for President Trump's campaign during the 2024 presidential election.

The WSJ detailed O'Rourke's role as one of President Trump's closest aides in July, saying he was calling businessmen and asking for donations by saying, "The boss (Trump) wants this money."

The WSJ reported that President Trump called O'Rourke the 'Princess of Darkness', saying she treated donors like 'killers'.

O'Rourke is known to have raised $800 million (about 1.07 trillion won) so far for major projects promoted by President Trump.

In the letter, Democratic lawmakers pointed out that O'Rourke's activities "reek of potential corruption" and listed examples of major conglomerates such as Capital One, Softbank, and Lockheed Martin receiving preferential treatment from the federal government after donating large sums of money to President Trump's projects.

In response, a spokesperson for President Trump and O'Rourke responded, "President Trump is the most successful fundraiser in political history and is deeply grateful to his donors, but he cannot be bought with money," adding, "The Democratic Party's accusations are absurd, baseless, and full of hypocrisy."

Like this rebuttal, the Trump administration is countering the announcement of various investigative powers led by the Democratic Party in the next Congress.

Recently, the White House sent a letter to Rep. Garcia in the name of legal advisor Will Sharp, warning that the Democratic Party's announcement of a strong investigation could be threatening administration officials and "could cross the line into blatant criminality."

However, in response to this, the WSJ pointed out, "Newly elected Democratic standing committee chairs can exercise the right to subpoena (witnesses) upon taking office," and "The White House has indicated that it has no plans to cooperate with their subpoenas, but O'Rourke is not a White House employee."