A California lawmaker is demanding all documents related to communications between U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and officials from the Ambassador Bridge after U.S. President Donald Trump's threat this week to block the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge.
The New York Times reported earlier this week that the threat was preceded by a meeting between Matthew Maroun, the owner of the company that owns the Ambassador Bridge, and Lutnick.
Democrat Robert Garcia, a member of the U.S. House Oversight Committee, is demanding Lutnick hand over all communications regarding the new border crossing, the Ambassador Bridge, members of the Maroun family, which owns the bridge, and Prime Minister Mark Carney. He's not only asking for emails, but Garcia is requesting all calendar invitations, text messages, and private messages sent via social networking platforms.
The committee is the principal oversight body of the House of Representatives and has the authority to investigate any matter under House Rule X.
Garcia's letter to Lutnick starts, "It appears that you have chosen to protect a politically-connected billionaire donor family at the expense of promoting American commerce."
The letter goes on to tell Lutnick, "Your interference could increase traffic congestion, reduce economic opportunity, and damage trade between the United States and Canada."
The threat from the U.S. President on February 9 shocked officials on both sides of the border. Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens called the late-night screed on Truth Social "insane." Trump asserted the Gordie Howe International Bridge was built without American steel or workers before continuing to bizarrely claim China would ban hockey in Canada.
"Thousands of U.S. workers helped construct the bridge, port of entry, and Michigan connections on the U.S. side, where lots of U.S. steel was used," wrote Dilkens on Twitter. "When a multi-billion-dollar trade gateway, a gift from Canada to the North American supply chain that comes at no cost to the American taxpayer, is used as a political bargaining chip, it doesn't just impact Windsor, it concerns every border municipality in the country."
Garcia's letter reasserts that the Detroit-Windsor corridor handles the largest volume of trade between the two countries and notes the Maroun family has "long attempted to derail the project, as the new Gordie Howe International Bridge will likely result in reduced toll revenue at the Ambassador Bridge."
"The Maroun family's latest attempt to delay or block the opening of the [Gordie Howe International] bridge by directly appealing to you and to the Trump Administration appears to have proven successful."
"Since 2019, Mr Maroun has donated more than $605,000 to President Trump and the Republican Party," wrote Garcia. "It is flatly unacceptable and undeniably corrupt to allow a wealthy donor to dictate our foreign policy in order to protect his personal business interests, and the public deserves to know if you or President Trump stand to receive additional benefits from Mr Maroun in exchange for your sudden interference."
