Democrats serving on a prominent US congressional committee have opened a formal investigation into a venture capital firm that has experienced rapid growth following the addition of President Donald Trump’s son to its leadership.
Donald Trump Jr joined 1789 Capital as a partner just days after his father’s victory in the November 2024 presidential election. Congressman Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democratic member of the House Judiciary Committee, has formally requested that the president’s son provide detailed information about the firm’s recent surge in performance.
According to previous reporting by The Guardian, 1789 Capital’s assets under management expanded dramatically after Trump Jr joined the firm: from approximately $150 million in 2024 to $1 billion last August, reaching $2.7 billion by year’s end, and climbing to a reported $3.5 billion by May, based on SEC filings.
A substantial share of that capital originated from foreign investors, according to CNN reporting and The Guardian’s review of SEC filings. Forty percent of the firm’s assets under management came from overseas sources.
In a letter addressed to the president’s son and the firm’s founders, Omeed Malik and Christopher Buskirk, judiciary committee Democrats have requested documentation including records of companies that have received investments from the firm, as well as any communications with US elected officials or federal government employees, by September 9. However, as the minority party, Democrats possess limited subpoena power without Republican backing.
“Two years ago,” Raskin wrote, 1789 Capital was “a struggling venture capital firm that earned consistently disappointing results by serially investing in total market flops” but has since undergone a “miraculous transformation.”
“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,” the top Democrat wrote. “They say there is no such thing as a sure thing in investing, but this is about as close as you can get.”
In a statement to The Guardian, AJ Merton, counsel to 1789 Capital, characterized the Democrats’ allegations as “unsubstantiated talking points.”
“Repackaging press clippings on congressional letterhead does not turn news headlines into evidence,” he added. “And that practice is a hallmark of partisan stunts and politically motivated harassment, not oversight.”
Raskin further argued that “it is now impossible to believe” that the firm’s “astonishing growth and success are due to anything other than insider political influence and thoroughgoing corruption.”
The ranking member outlined several recent investments by 1789 Capital, including millions of dollars placed into Vulcan Elements, a rare earths company, in August 2025. Prior to that investment, the manufacturer had publicly highlighted several government contracts it had secured months earlier. Raskin noted that the Pentagon subsequently announced a $620 million direct loan to Vulcan Elements in November of last year. Concurrently, the Department of Commerce provided the company with a $50 million grant under the Chips and Science Act, legislation originally signed by former 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 startup company,” Raskin wrote.
He also referenced a July interview with CNBC in which the president stated that his children possess “inside information” because his policies affect nearly every sector of the economy.
“I tell my kids, ‘stay away,'” Trump said at the time. “But they also have a life. You know, they were doing business long before I ever thought of running for president.”
In an interview with the New York Times last month, Trump Jr said he speaks with his father, the president, “every few weeks,” and never discusses business matters with him. He emphasized that, as a private citizen, he holds “no policy position and no role within the administration whatsoever.”
Raskin’s letter also cites Guardian reporting indicating that Anduril Industries, a major military contractor founded by Trump ally and donor Palmer Luckey, has secured billions in government contracts over the past year. 1789 Capital, according to judiciary Democrats, has acquired a stake in the company. Anduril has stated that during Trump’s first year in office, the company doubled its revenue, achieving a 100 percent growth rate.
Earlier this month, The Guardian also reported that two recent appointments to the Defense Policy Board, a key Pentagon advisory body, include individuals with ties to 1789 Capital.
Andreessen Horowitz, one of Silicon Valley’s largest venture capital firms, co-invests in three defense contractors alongside Trump Jr’s firm. The other appointee, Blake Masters, also serves on the boards of three ventures connected to 1789 Capital.
Both individuals now advise the Pentagon on the defense-technology sector in which those companies operate.
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