Donald Trump has close financial ties to Dakota Access pipeline company
Donald Trump has close financial ties to Dakota Access pipeline company
Trump’s financial disclosure forms show he invested in Energy Transfer Partners, operators of the controversial pipeline, and its CEO donated to his campaign
Donald Trump’s close financial ties to Energy Transfer Partners, operators of the controversial Dakota Access oil pipeline, have been laid bare, with the presidential candidate invested in the company and receiving more than $100,000 in campaign contributions from its chief executive.
Trump’s financial disclosure forms show the Republican nominee has between $500,000 and $1m invested in Energy Transfer Partners, with a further $500,000 to $1m holding in Phillips 66, which will have a 25% stake in the Dakota Access project once completed. The information was disclosed in Trump’s May filing to the Federal Election Commission, which requires candidates to disclose their campaign finance information on a regular basis.
The financial relationship runs both ways. Kelcy Warren, chief executive of Energy Transfer Partners, has given $103,000 to elect Trump and handed over a further $66,800 to the Republican National Committee since the property developer secured the GOP’s presidential nomination.
On 29 June, Warren made $3,000 in donations to Trump’s presidential campaign. The limit for individual contributions to a candidate is $2,700 per election and it’s unclear whether Trump returned $300 to Warren. Trump’s campaign was contacted for comment.
Warren made a further $100,000 donation to the Trump Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee among Trump’s campaign, the RNC and 11 state parties, on 29 June. A day earlier, the Energy Transfer Partners chief executive doled out $66,800 in two separate donations to the RNC.
Trump is therefore indirectly linked to Dakota Access, a $3.8bn pipeline development that will funnel oil from North Dakota to Illinois. The 1,170-mile pipeline has caused uproar among Native American tribes as it runs close to the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota. A protest camp, set up over fears the pipeline will poison water and destroy cultural heritage, has been the scene of repeated clashes between protesters and Energy Transfer Partners security staff.
A court challenge has allowed the project to go ahead but the federal government, which initially approved the project, is now reassessing its decision following an outcry by tribes and has placed a temporary halt to construction on federal land.
Trump has signaled his opposition to any restrictions on the development of oil, coal or gas, telling a crowd in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, last week that he would “lift the Obama-Clinton roadblocks to allow these vital energy infrastructure projects to go ahead”.
“We have roadblocks like you’ve never, ever seen – environmental blocks, structural blocks,” he said. “We are going to allow the Keystone pipeline and so many other things to move forwards. Tremendous numbers of jobs and good for our country.”
Jesse Coleman, a researcher at Greenpeace, said Trump seems to know “very little” about energy policies other than to side with wealthy fossil fuel interests.
“Trump likes to say he’s an outsider candidate but he’s very close to fossil fuel tycoons and accepts campaign donations from them,” he said. “Warren wants powerful people to be sympathetic to his business plans and donating to them is his MO.”
Warren has worked in the energy industry for the past 25 years and has a net worth of $3.8bn, according to Forbes. The Texas-based businessman has said concerns over the Dakota Access pipeline are “unfounded” and insisted there are no Native American artifacts at risk from its construction. He vowed that Energy Transfer Partners will press ahead with the project.
Warren has been an enthusiastic backer of Republican politicians, contributing the maximum allowable amount to the campaigns of the House speaker, Paul Ryan, and Fred Upson, chairman of the energy and commerce committee. He also contributed $6m to a committee backing an unsuccessful presidential bid by the former Texas governor Rick Perry.
Greg Abbott, the current Texas governor, received $555,000 from Warren during the 2014 election cycle and subsequently appointed the businessman, and his wife Amy, to state boards. Energy Transfer Partners has teamed up with Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim to build an 148-mile natural gas pipeline through west Texas to the Mexican border – a plan that has been opposed by affected ranchers and environmentalists.
Dakota Access has sparked the most vociferous protests, however, with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe escalating its grievances to the UN and, most recently, the US justice department. On Tuesday, the tribe requested that the US attorney general, Loretta Lynch, investigate alleged strip searches, dog attacks and pepper-spraying by police and security personnel against Native American protesters.
“Peaceful protests are being met with military vehicles and heavily armed law enforcement personnel in riot gear,” the tribe’s letter states. “To many people, the military tactics being used in North Dakota are reminiscent of the tactics used against protestors during the civil rights movement some 50 years ago.”
Energy Transfer Partners refused to comment on the donations.
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Good thing no one thought he was objective on the subject to begin with.
are you engaged in some sort of contest to find the most irrelevant story ever?
Old habits are hard to break.
I think a lot pf people will find this story relevant. Maybe some undecided voters too.
Why? It's wholly irrelevant.
Actually Cerenkov it very relevant.
Trump is an advocate of building pipelines, in fact he wants to overturn the decision stopping the XL pipeline.
So, with that as a background his financial ties with DAPL are relevant.
NoDAPL.
The story is relevant to those that are following or involved in the protest at Standing Rock.
Yeah, companies that follow the law and the legal process are terrible.
Actually they didn't follow the law, Sean....You should get yourself up to date on what is happening there.
BTW, North Dakota congressman Kevin Cramer is a Trump energy advisor.
I have, and the judicial opinions. They've behaved admirably and did everything they were supposed to.
Not quite Sean - guess that's why DOJ/DOI/ACOE have stopped their work purely because the PROPER paperwork/environmental reviews were NOT conducted - as required by Fed law. ND has come out and said that NO energy project needs to complete and environmental review within their state. Seems as though ND is getting ready to be taught a lesson.
See story -
I read the opinion. The DOJ has simply caved to political pressure and is reopening the matter for political, rather than valid legal, reasons.
No, the "opinions" stated that the Standing Rock Sioux did not show enough "evidence" of desecration of sacred sites. It did not address the lack of the Environmental Impact Statement - It did not address the lack of required consultation under Section 106 - it did not address the lack of required consultation under NEPA - it did not address the lack of protection required under the Antiquities Act - it did not address the lack of Conservation methods required under the Cultural Resources Protection Act - it did not address the lack of required SHPO/ACHP consultation - it did not . . . . . . . . .
So, no, The DOJ has simply caved to political pressure and is reopening the matter for political, rather than valid legal, reasons a very inaccurate statement. DOJ is NOW acting within their jurisdiction for civil/criminal activities of DAPL by putting the project on hold UNTIL they fully evaluate the charges that are continuing to be stipulated against DAPL.
It's gonna be interesting. It'll never make it to SCOTUS, but, man, if it did - what a circus it would be with DAPL attempting to sing-and-dance it through the Constitutional requirement that states "Treaties are the law of the land".
The story is about investing in building a stronger America and reducing the risk of railroad transportation. Let's hope the investors get a good return on investment and the project provides work for many American families.
I guess some people would rather he invest in China.
We can agree that Donald Trump has no interest in the protests or the rights of Native Americans and environmentalists.
Why do think investing in American projects do not benefit native Americans? Native Americans also benefit from these projects and some of them are probably employed by the project.
You wanna expand on that Dean?
John -
Not surprising that you defend Trump.
Not surprising you continue to post worthless, mundane, pathetic threads in your consistent efforts to denigrate anyone whose name isn't Billary/Killary Clinton either. You having a contest with Jefferson?
Please stop whining.
When you do.
You are a hopeless case.
It would be great if we could concentrate on the article itself. It's about Trump and DAPL.
Trump products are made in China now...Duh.
The tags on the items in Trump hotels are a little hard to read. They say
Made In China
You mean the hotels in America that employ Americans?
You mean like this Dean..
I couldn't open the link but did find this. 34000 jobs not too shabby.
A CNNMoney analysis calculates at least 34,000 jobs attributable to the Donald.
Your link didn't specify if that number of employees is in the US or world wide.
It also didn't show if they were US citizens or foreign workers.
This is a link addressing just his Mar A Lago property.
Dean, it's the same old story. Last election it was Romney's wealth. Wealth doesn't seem to come into the conversation now unless it is Trump's wealth. No one seems to care about how wealthy and out of touch Hillary is with average citizens, having been chauffeured around for the last 30 years.
Oooops!!!
We continue our conversation with Hugh MacMillan on his new investigation revealing the financial institutions backing the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline project.
The investigation, published by research outlet LittleSis, names more than two dozen major banks and financial institutions helping to finance the Dakota Access pipeline. It details how Bank of America, HSBC , UBS , Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and other financial institutions have, combined, extended a $3.75 billion credit line to Energy Transfer Partners, the parent company of Dakota Access.
It does not surprise me in the least that Trump has a financial, vested interest in this pipeline project. It's just part of his plan to be the richest, baddest, most powerful man ever... Of course, anyone that disagrees with him is to be crushed. Anyone that dares to stand up for their constitutional rights is to be annihilated.
UGH!!!
Let me say this first Dowser. I think you are one of the nicest people on this site. I don't think you have a bad bone in your body, although I know some of them hurt like hell sometimes. Now that is over.
There is a bigger picture here. You can't just take a story that Trump is invested in the company Energy Transfers and say he has a vested interest and not realize (if you looked at any of my comments above) all these investment and financial companies who are behind the pipeline are Hillary's biggest financial supporters. You can't look at a picture and block out part of it like it isn't there.
I know Energy Transfers is also a donor to Hillary Clinton as well. Not that it matters. Neither one of the candidates have spoken a word about this pipeline and Hillary was for the Keystone Pipeline. I guess her public policy or position is she's against it now. I don't know at this moment, but when they were pushing on the Keystone Pipeline and before Obama stopped it, Bill was paid $1 million dollars for two speeches tied to the Keystone Pipeline in Canada. If I want to give you a link to it, I should give you a link to all my previous comments on this site, because I've put it on here already with links to back it up.
Hillary Clinton’s Fossil Fuel Financiers
As it turns out, there’s a dirty secret in the world of wealth—bankers finance the oil, gas, and coal sectors. This uncomfortable truth has come to the fore thanks to the growing divestment movement: university endowments, pension funds, foundations, and institutional investors who claim concern about climate change are being challenged to end their catastrophic investments and instead invest in a clean future.
Those with great wealth almost invariably have dirty investments. There are very few billionaires not actively invested in destroying our planet’s climate. (In fact, there may be only one: hedge-fund-manager-turned-climate-activist Tom Steyer divested in 2014 .)
And Clinton has more billionaire supporters than any other presidential candidate. Nine in ten dollars raised for Hillary Clinton’s campaign have come from large donors—a mere 22 people have contributed $43 million .
The Financial Powers Behind the Dakota Access Pipeline Must Be Confronted
A look into the banks and energy companies behind the Dakota Access Pipeline
One additional company in this web of corporate greed deserves a dishonorable mention. G4S, a UK-based security multinational is providing armed mercenaries to harass and brutalize defenders of the water in North Dakota. This isn’t G4S’ first foray into human rights abuses. The company is the target of a years-long global campaign for its role in profiting from the inhumane treatment of Palestinians in Israeli prisons and the torture of children.
Neither of these candidates want to talk about these subjects. Wonder why? And to expand on that, I bet it never comes up, because if they ask Trump then we would like to ask Hillary and that is never going to happen.
Anyway, you take care and have a great day.
Neither of these candidates want to talk about these subjects. Wonder why? And to expand on that, I bet it never comes up, because if they ask Trump then we would like to ask Hillary and that is never going to happen.
These questions should be asked, of both of them. To me, that's the right thing to do.