Trump corruption analysis and Venezuelan oil money
A former defense-intelligence budget analyst turned investigator says Trump's second term is the most corrupt in modern US history, and that Venezuela's oil money is now sitting in the US Treasury — bad news for Venezuela, for US oil companies owed billions, and for trust in America.
- A corruption scoring model built on UN definitions puts Trump at 76 now and 91 if the behavior continues, against 41 for Nixon and 25 or below for every other president.
- Venezuelan oil money flowed into a State Department fund in huge amounts starting in February, jumping from a normal trickle to billions, while Venezuela has to ask permission to touch its own cash.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dodged questions about the money even though the numbers sit in a public daily ledger; Trump bragged the war paid for itself ten times over.
- US companies like ConocoPhillips are owed roughly $20 billion by Venezuela, and the money was parked in Qatar until an executive order made it untouchable for them — Trump reportedly called it "a good write-off."
- Dark money has exploded from $200 million to $1.9 billion after donor-disclosure rules were scrapped, funneled through nonprofits tied to figures like Mark Levin and Stephen Miller.
Outlook: With the FBI's campaign-finance unit gutted, anti-corruption lawyers cut from 36 to two, and Republicans blocking disclosure rules, the money is likely to keep flowing in the dark.