Watchdog Demands to Know If Trump Admin Colluded with Big Oil in Lead-Up to Venezuela Attack

From [HERE] A legal watchdog group is demanding information about the extent to which the Trump administration planned its attack on Venezuela last weekend with American oil companies, which are expected to profit royally from the takeover of the South American nation’s oil reserves.

The group Democracy Forward filed a series of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests on Monday seeking records and information about the role of US oil companies in the planning of the attack, which killed an estimated 75 people and led to the US military’s abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.

President Donald Trump did not inform Congress of the operation, which is required under the War Powers Act of 1973, but he told reporters on Sunday that he’d tipped off oil company executives both “before and after” the strike.

According to reporting by the Wall Street Journal, he informed executives roughly a month before the strike to “get ready” because big changes were coming to the country, which had long held state control over the largest oil reserves in the world.

Democracy Forward has requested information about communications between senior officials at the US departments of Energy and the Interior and executives at top oil companies, including Chevron, ExxonMobil, and ConocoPhillips, prior to the attack. This includes emails, attachments, and calendar invitations exchanged since December 2025.

The group has said it will seek to determine whether these companies were given “privileged access or influence” over the administration’s policy toward Venezuela. [MORE]