The 'reckoning': Trump capitulators spooked as blowback looms

(L-R) Priscilla Chan, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Lauren Sanchez, businessman Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai, and businessman Elon Musk at Donald Trump's inauguration, January 20, 2025.

Fearing a reckoning is upon them as Democrats seem poised to sweep Congress, companies, especially tech firms in Silicon Valley, are "bracing" for an oncoming "barrage" of consequences after they capitulated to and ingratiated themselves with President Donald Trump, per a new report from The Washington Post.

As the Monday morning report detailed, many of these companies are anticipating a new wave of investigations by a Democrat-controlled Congress into "their dealings with the president and his administration." Democrats are widely anticipated to win back the House majority in the midterms, and seem increasingly likely to win the Senate, giving them massive leeway to launch investigations into the many corrupt dealings of Trump's second term.

"Democrats are preparing to investigate some defense technology firms, as well as manufacturing and mining companies that serve the military supply chain, according to conversations with nearly a dozen congressional staffers, political lobbyists, lawyers, investors and executives, some of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about pending plans," the Post's report detailed.

It added further: "The firms make a tantalizing target for Democrats because of their close ties to the Trump administration and mounting public anger over unregulated AI, autonomous weapons and data centers, the people said."

Jamie Bair, leader of the congressional investigations practice at the law firm Crowell & Moring, told the Post that Democrats are approaching this new majority with hard-won lessons from their time leading the House under Trump after the 2018 midterms, when they lost a lot of time for their investigations by following “polite” protocols. With new majorities next year, Bair predicted that the party will not "burn anywhere near as much time on the ramp-up."

"It’s going to get pretty intense pretty quickly,” he said.

"Congressional lawmakers are developing priorities for whom they want to investigate," the Post continued. "Firms with ties to Donald Trump Jr. that have received Pentagon funds will be prioritized for probes, according to four people familiar with congressional lawmakers’ plans. Companies with ties to Elon Musk and his U.S. DOGE Service may also be high on the list for scrutiny, with emphasis on whether the firms financially benefited from information and relationships they had access to while running DOGE, two of the people added. Companies that received noncompete contracts and equity stakes from the U.S. military may also be prioritized, those two people said."

Many congressional staffers anticipate that these investigations, with their relation to key policy issues, will also be useful in priming the party to craft a winning message in the 2028 elections.

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