This is a translation of the original article in Portuguese. Read the original (Português).
Democrats in the U.S. Congress have sent letters to major American companies, including Amazon, Apple, Walmart and Live Nation, notifying them that they are under investigation. The focus is on these companies’ ties to President Donald Trump, according to the Chilean newspaper El Mercurio.
The companies have until January 4 to deliver the information requested by lawmakers. According to El Mercurio, the companies have already hired law firms to prepare for the inquiries.
The offensive comes shortly after the Democratic victory in the midterm elections, which shifted the balance of power in Congress. With their new position, Democrats now have more oversight tools at their disposal, and the letters to companies are one of the first signs of how they intend to use them.
The choice of targets stands out for its economic weight. The list includes an e-commerce and cloud computing giant, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of phones and computers, the largest retail chain in the United States, and the country’s leading ticket sales and concert promotion company. These are companies with international reach, selling products and services in many countries, including Brazil.
By targeting the private sector, lawmakers are bringing the political dispute in Washington beyond the government’s offices. Rather than questioning only actions of the Executive branch, the investigation seeks to understand the relationships between the president and some of the country’s largest companies.
The move indicates that the dispute between Congress and the White House is likely to produce new chapters in the coming months, now with companies at the center of the scene. The scope of the investigations and the possible consequences for the companies still depend on the responses they submit by the January deadline and on the next steps Democrats define in Congress.
For markets, the episode adds a factor of uncertainty: investors are closely watching any inquiry that could involve large publicly traded companies with business spread across the world.
Reporting from El Mercurio (p. 16, Washington (Estados Unidos)).
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