The Trump Crime Family: Nepo Baby, Don Jr. (DJ) Venture Capital Fund Profits From Insider Information/Trading From Daddy

Aug 29, 2026 04:50 PM EDT, Sat

House Democrats open investigation into Donald Trump Jr.’s venture capital firm

In a letter shared first with MS NOW, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD8 says 1789 Capital’s investments have been timed with “almost clairvoyant accuracy” since the president’s son joined as a partner.

By Kevin Frey

Aug. 27, 2026, 5:00 AM EDT

House Democrats are launching a new probe into Donald Trump Jr. and the venture capital firm he joined as a partner shortly after his father won a second term, alleging possible fraud and insider trading.

In a letter shared first with MS NOW, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD8, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, asks the younger Trump to account for the recent run of success at 1789 Capital, whose investments over the past year and a half, he says, have been timed with “almost clairvoyant accuracy.”

“With Don Jr.’s new leadership role, 1789 Capital has developed an uncanny ability to identify companies that are about to receive massive influxes of cash from the Trump Administration or to benefit from significant changes in federal policies and regulations,” Raskin writes. “They say there is no such thing as a sure thing in investing, but this is about as close as you can get.”

Raskin specifically asks 1789 Capital to turn over records of its communications with federal government officials and elected officials. He also asks for a list of companies it has invested in, among other materials.

MS NOW has no evidence that 1789 Capital has violated any laws. In a statement, AJ Merton, counsel for the firm, dismissed the accusations against it as “unsubstantiated talking points.”

“Repackaging press clippings on congressional letterhead does not turn news headlines into evidence, and that practice is a hallmark of partisan stunts and politically motivated harassment, not oversight,” he said.

The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to MS NOW’s request for a comment from Donald Trump Jr.

The younger Trump announced that he was joining 1789 Capital as a partner in November 2024. That year, the firm managed a few hundred million dollars, according to a profile in The New York Times. It now manages $3 billion.

It is “impossible to believe that your firm’s astonishing growth and success are due to anything other than insider political influence and thoroughgoing corruption,” Raskin alleges in his letter.

Citing news reports, the Maryland Democrat questioned the timing of several of the firm’s investments. Among them is 1789 Capital’s 2025 investment in Vulcan Elements, a rare-earths magnet company. In the months that followed, Vulcan announced a $620 million loan from the Pentagon plus a $50 million grant from the [CHIPS and Science Act(https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/4346), the 2022 law signed by President Joe Biden.

“This was an amazing turn of events when the Trump Administration decided to pump over half a billion dollars into an unproven start-up company,” Raskin writes.

For an article published last month, Donald Trump Jr. told the New York Times that he didn’t have “inside information.” The Times cited him and Omeed Malik, the president of 1789 Capital, as explaining that they made a “reasonable assumption” that Vulcan Elements would be a winning investment at the time.

“It’s not like it takes a genius to figure this out,” Donald Trump Jr. told the Times.

In the letter, Raskin also questions 1789 Capital’s investments in e-cigarette maker Juul, the prediction market Polymarket and Anduril Industries, a defense technology company.

In the case of Juul, Raskin invokes an investment 1789 Capital made in March 2025, according to a Reuters report. Later that year, the Food and Drug Administration reversed a ban on certain e-cigarette products, providing a boost to the company.

This is not the first time Donald Trump Jr.’s work with 1789 Capital has been met with scrutiny by Democrats in Congress.

In March, Democrats on a House Committee on Natural Resources subcommittee tried to subpoena him to force testimony about the Vulcan investment. Republicans blocked the effort.

Raskin’s new inquiry faces the same constraint: In the minority, House Democrats have no subpoena power. But Thursday’s announcement offers another preview of what the party would pursue if it wins control of the House in November — and with it, subpoena power.

Raskin has already announced an investigation into another key member of Trump’s orbit: his son-in-law Jared Kushner, accusing him of a “glaring and incurable conflict of interest” due to his dual roles as White House peace envoy and private investor. And earlier this week, MS NOW was first to report that Raskin was expanding that probe to include Kushner’s planned luxury resort project in Albania.

Kushner’s team has pushed back on allegations of wrongdoing.

Democrats are laying the groundwork for an extensive roster of investigations related to the Trump administration they are expected to pursue starting as early as next year.

In a statement, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle did not directly engage with allegations involving the president’s son, but said that President Donald Trump “stock and bond portfolio is independently managed by third-party financial institutions.”

“Neither President Trump nor any member of his family has any ability to direct, influence, or provide input regarding how the portfolio is invested or when investments are bought or sold,” he said.

Kevin Frey is a congressional reporter for MS NOW.

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