by Staff Report CTNewsJunkie
Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-CT, is turning to a gaming platform CEO in an effort to uncover information about the private donations used to fund President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom, a project estimated to cost about $400 million.
Blumenthal is the ranking member of the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and has raised concerns about donors that have financial, business or personal interests before the administration.
In a Dec. 22 letter to Roblox CEO David Baszucki, Blumenthal requested additional information about his reported contribution to the ballroom following a meeting in which Blumenthal said Baszucki had confirmed contributing to the ballroom.
“I appreciated your candor and transparency at our recent meeting, in acknowledging that you were among the guests in attendance at that dinner and that you made a $5 million contribution to the ballroom project in your personal capacity,” Blumenthal wrote. “As an attendee at the October 15 dinner and donor to the project, you possess critical information about the Administration’s solicitation of donations, its management of this project, why your donation was not publicly disclosed, and what President Trump or his representatives may have agreed to provide in exchange.”
Blumenthal sent similar letters to 10 other people he said attended the fundraiser, including those not listed as donors. He said his office had received information that at least one attendee at the dinner was not listed as a donor, but did in fact contribute to the ballroom project.
He also has written to the contractor, engineer, and previous architect leading the construction and design of the ballroom, in addition to Shalom Baranes Associates Architects, which has taken on the project following President Trump’s clash with the previous architect. In that letter, Blumenthal asked Baranes for information on how his company became involved in the project and the terms of his selection to participate.