Ranking Member Raskin Demands Answers from Donald Trump Jr.’s 1789 Capital on Corrupt Insider Deals

Washington, D.C. (August 27, 2026)—Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, launched an investigation into 1789 Capital Management LLC, the venture capital firm that suddenly struck investment gold after naming President Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., a partner just four days after the 2024 presidential election.

Before Trump Jr. joined 1789 Capital, the struggling firm managed roughly $150 million in investment capital and had a record of flopped investments. Today, it manages more than $3 billion, and its main investment fund generated a roughly 200% return as of June 30, 2026—ten times the average for peer venture capital firms founded in 2023. The staggering reversal has come as 1789 Capital repeatedly invested in companies that suddenly began receiving massive lucrative federal contracts and funding or benefit from favorable policy and regulatory decisions from the Trump Administration.

“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. They say there is no such thing as a sure thing in investing, but this is about as close as you can get,” wrote Ranking Member Raskin.

The investigation targets a pattern of 1789 Capital investments followed by significant Trump Administration actions benefiting those companies:

• Vulcan Elements: After 1789 Capital invested several million dollars in the small rare-earth startup, the Trump Administration provided the company a $620 million Defense Department loan and a $50 million Commerce Department grant. Vulcan’s valuation subsequently jumped from approximately $200 million to $2 billion—a 900% return for early investors. White House adviser and Trump Jr. confidant Peter Navarro initiated the loan request, the only deal among dozens under Pentagon consideration initiated by a top aide to the President.
• Juul: After 1789 Capital quietly acquired a $5 million stake in the e-cigarette manufacturer Juul, the FDA abandoned prior efforts to prohibit its products from the U.S. market and authorized five JUUL products for marketing.
• Polymarket: After the Justice Department closed its investigation into Polymarket, the Commodities Future Trading Commission signed off one week later on an acquisition that reopened the U.S. market to the company. Weeks later, it was revealed that 1789 Capital had already acquired a sizable stake. Polymarket’s valuation has since soared from a reported $300 million to $15 billion—a 4,900% increase in less than a year.

“Alas, it is now impossible to believe that your firm’s astonishing growth and success are due to anything other than insider political influence and thoroughgoing corruption. Indeed, President Trump recently admitted that his oldest sons have ‘inside information’ with ‘almost anything they do.’ Whether government decisions and contracts are being manipulated to ensure that your firm and the President’s family get a cut of the action or your firm and the President’s family are being given advance insider information about those forthcoming decisions and contracts (or more likely both), these practices constitute clear violations of laws banning governmental conflicts of interest, political insider trading, exploitation of public office for financial gain and fraud,” wrote Ranking Member Raskin.

Ranking Member Raskin is demanding 1789 Capital turn over a list of its portfolio companies, communications with federal officials, records concerning government actions affecting its investments, records concerning its relationship with Trump Jr. and due diligence materials for its portfolio companies. Raskin also directed the firm to preserve all communications with members of the Trump Administration, including messages sent through encrypted applications.

Click here to read the letter.