U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia told a campaign rally on Saturday that anyone involved in a series of deals he tied to President Donald Trump’s family and allies, including a proposed sale of Russian oil company Lukoil’s international assets, would “next year” be testifying under oath before Congress. He did not say how that would happen, but the remark came 17 days before midterm elections that will decide which party controls the House and Senate.
“And here’s the bottom line, if you’re involved in any of this, next year you’ll be raising your right hand and swearing to tell the truth, the whole truth,” Ossoff said, echoing the oath given to congressional witnesses, before ending with “so help you God in front of the United States Congress.” Team Ossoff, his campaign’s X account, posted the clip from its livestream of the Oct. 17 rally in Cobb County.
Democrats are in the minority in both chambers, and committee majorities generally control hearings and subpoenas. Ossoff, who faces Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins on Nov. 3, did not say outright that Democrats would investigate if they won. His reference to “next year” coincides with the new Congress, which convenes in January after the vote.
Ossoff spoke at the rally with Democratic gubernatorial nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms on the first weekend of early voting, according to his campaign. Before the warning, he ran through four allegations, adding, “they are literally the elites they pretend to hate.”
“And then there’s Marco Rubio committing $1.6 billion of your money to back the Trump boys’ mining interests in Kazakhstan,” Ossoff said. “Did you hear about that?”
The figure matches the combined value of two letters of interest, which are not commitments. Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee said in a July 8 release that the Export-Import Bank had issued a letter of interest “to lend up to $900 million” to a Kazakh tungsten project, and that Trump’s sons “reportedly secured a sizable investment in the mining operation.” The DFC said on Feb. 4 that it had issued letters of interest “exploring up to $700 million” for Cove Kaz Capital Group’s investment in the Severniy Katpar tungsten mine.
The public records reviewed do not show a direct role for Rubio. The DFC announced its letters at a critical minerals ministerial Rubio hosted at the State Department, and the secretary of state sits on the DFC’s board of directors. No document reviewed shows Rubio approving either letter, and EXIM is a separate agency.
In the July letter, Senate Banking Committee ranking Democrat Elizabeth Warren asked Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the heads of EXIM and the DFC what steps they were taking to identify conflicts of interest, and requested answers by July 21. The release did not include any agency response.
Ossoff next mentioned “Pete Hegseth steering hundreds of millions of Pentagon dollars to back Don Jr.’s magnet investment.” In November 2025, the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital announced a $620 million conditional loan commitment to magnet maker Vulcan Elements. The announcement said no funds are disbursed until conditions are met, and an office official thanked Hegseth, among others, “for their support in executing these commitments.”
Donald Trump Jr.’s venture firm, 1789 Capital, where he is a partner, invested in Vulcan in August 2025, according to a July 30 letter from Democratic Sens. Adam Schiff, Richard Blumenthal and Warren. The senators cited reporting that White House adviser Peter Navarro initiated the loan, and asked the office to list any White House officials who contacted its staff about the deal.
A Pentagon spokesperson told ProPublica that “outside affiliations, investors, or political connections play absolutely no role in the Department’s funding decisions.” A White House spokesperson told the outlet the administration was working “in the best interest of the American people,” and a spokesperson for Trump Jr. said he “has no knowledge about how this deal came together.” A 1789 Capital spokesperson said the firm played no role in Vulcan getting the loan, ProPublica reported.
House Democrats have already tried to compel testimony on Vulcan. Rep. Maxine Dexter of Oregon forced a vote on March 25 in a House Natural Resources subcommittee to subpoena Trump Jr. “to testify under oath,” and Republicans voted to block it, her office said.
His last example was “Venezuelan oil money turning up in Qatari bank accounts.” Trump’s Jan. 9 executive order declares Venezuelan oil proceeds held in designated Treasury accounts to be Venezuelan sovereign property held by the United States “solely in a custodial and governmental capacity,” with disbursements to follow instructions from the secretary of state.
According to an April 17 letter to the Government Accountability Office from Democratic Reps. Joaquin Castro and Sean Casten and Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Tim Kaine, Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Jan. 28 that the first $500 million sale had been deposited in a Qatari bank account owned by Venezuela but controlled by the United States. The letter said Energy Secretary Chris Wright has since said the proceeds no longer go through Qatar and now flow to Treasury-managed accounts. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Schiff introduced a bill on Feb. 11 directing the GAO to audit the arrangement.
The allegation Ossoff raised first and discussed at greatest length was the proposed sale of Lukoil’s international oil fields, refineries and gas stations. The New York Times reported on Oct. 3 that the leading bidding group includes Trump donor Todd Boehly, Middle Eastern investors with business ties to envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, and the DFC. A senior administration official told the Times the envoys helped secure “a substantial upfront payment and profits interest for the United States,” and a Witkoff spokeswoman said he “has no conflict of interest and no financial stake in this matter.”
That deal is already drawing congressional scrutiny. In an Oct. 6 letter, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, and Sen. Roger Wicker, a Republican, said the new Russia sanctions law’s investment and sovereign-debt prohibitions “are germane” to the reported Lukoil deal. Trump waived those prohibitions in an Oct. 16 executive order, the day before the rally. Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, wrote to Kushner on Oct. 6 seeking details of his Middle East business dealings, though that letter did not mention Lukoil.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in an NBC “Meet the Press” interview on Oct. 18, cited Trump’s sanctions on Lukoil and Rosneft as evidence that “no one has been tougher on Russian sanctions than President Trump,” according to the NBC transcript. He did not address the sale.
As of Monday, neither the White House nor the Collins campaign had responded to Ossoff’s rally remarks. Last week, asked by The Hill about other comments by Ossoff, Collins spokesperson Meyer Siegfried told the outlet that Ossoff hates Trump more than he loves Georgia, and White House spokesperson Davis Ingle called him “a total phony.”
The prediction of sworn testimony “next year” is Ossoff’s, and any such hearings would depend on the election results and on committee action. Phrases such as “committing $1.6 billion of your money” and “steering hundreds of millions of Pentagon dollars” are his characterizations. The records show nonbinding letters of interest on Kazakhstan and a conditional loan for Vulcan, with no document reviewed showing Rubio or Hegseth personally approving either. On Venezuela, the record shows a Qatar account that officials say is no longer used. On Lukoil, the bidders and the envoys’ role come from news reporting and statements to the Times, and OFAC has authorized only negotiations and contingent contracts.