Donald Trump Jr. is facing fresh scrutiny on Capitol Hill as House Democrats launch an investigation into a venture capital firm whose investments have repeatedly paid off just before major Trump administration decisions.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, is demanding answers about 1789 Capital, the investment firm Trump Jr. joined shortly after his father returned to the White House.
At the center of the probe is one explosive question: Did the firm’s extraordinary run of well-timed investments come from smart business instincts — or access to powerful people inside the Trump administration?
In a letter obtained by MS NOW, Raskin said 1789 Capital appears to have made investments with “almost clairvoyant accuracy.”
The firm’s growth has certainly been dramatic.
1789 Capital was reportedly worth only a few million dollars when Trump Jr. became a partner in November 2024. It is now estimated to be worth roughly $3 billion.
One deal in particular has caught Democrats’ attention.
In 2025, 1789 Capital purchased an undisclosed stake in Vulcan Elements, a young company that manufactures rare-earth magnets.
About three months later, the Pentagon announced a massive $620 million loan to Vulcan.
Bloomberg reportedly valued the two-year-old company at around $200 million near the time of 1789 Capital’s investment. After the federal deal became public, Vulcan’s estimated valuation reportedly exploded to nearly $2 billion.
“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 wrote.
Trump Jr. has strongly denied that he had any inside information.
Speaking previously to The New York Times, Trump Jr. said he and 1789 Capital President Omeed Malik simply made a logical investment based on where they believed the country was headed.
“It’s not like it takes a genius to figure this out,” Trump Jr. said.
But Democrats are not satisfied.
Raskin is also seeking records connected to 1789 Capital’s investments in e-cigarette giant Juul, prediction market Polymarket and defense technology company Anduril Industries.
Reuters previously reported that 1789 invested in Juul in March 2025. The FDA later reversed restrictions affecting some e-cigarette products, another sequence of events now drawing congressional attention.
Raskin argued that the pattern is simply too striking to ignore.
“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 wrote.
“They say there is no such thing as a sure thing in investing, but this is about as close as you can get.”
The Maryland Democrat is demanding communications between 1789 Capital and federal officials, elected representatives and other government figures. He is also asking the firm to hand over a complete list of its investments.
Raskin went even further, accusing the company of benefiting from political connections.
He wrote that it was “impossible to believe that your firm’s astonishing growth and success are due to anything other than insider political influence and thoroughgoing corruption.”
Those are allegations, however, and no evidence has been publicly presented showing that Trump Jr. or 1789 Capital broke the law.
The firm is firing back.
AJ Merton, counsel for 1789 Capital, dismissed Raskin’s accusations as politically motivated.
“Repackaging press clippings on congressional letterhead does not turn news headlines into evidence,” Merton told MS NOW, calling the investigation “partisan stunts and politically motivated harassment.”
Republicans have so far blocked Democratic efforts to subpoena Trump Jr. over the firm’s investments.
That could change dramatically after the November midterm elections.
If Democrats take control of the House, they would gain substantially more power to issue subpoenas and pursue investigations into Trump Jr., 1789 Capital and possible connections between private investments and federal policy decisions.
And Democrats currently have reason for optimism.
An Emerson College poll cited in the report showed Democrats holding an 8-point advantage on the generic congressional ballot as President Trump faces declining support and growing public frustration over the war with Iran and rising energy prices.
For now, Trump Jr. has not been accused of a crime.
But with billions of dollars, government contracts and some remarkably well-timed investments now under the microscope, Democrats are making clear they intend to keep digging.
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