Mike Levin urges Congress to investigate JD Vance’s reported meeting with an oil trader before the US operation in Venezuela.
Rep. Mike Levin, a California Democrat, has called on Congress to investigate reported ties between US Vice President JD Vance and an oil trader whose company later secured a lucrative contract to sell Venezuelan crude following the US military operation in the country.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on November 12, 2026, Levin described the report as “stunning” and raised questions about whether political connections gave certain oil companies preferential access to government business following the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Levin urged lawmakers to summon Energy Secretary Chris Wright, commodities trader Vitol, and its executive John Addison to testify under oath.
“We should bring Secretary Wright, Vitol, and Addison in to testify under oath. We should demand the phone records, emails, and flight logs. We should find out whether anyone got a heads-up about a military operation,” he said. “And we should require open, competitive bidding before any company profits from our foreign policy.”
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Reuters Report Raises Questions About JD Vance’s Reported Meeting With Oil Trader
Reuters reported that a week before the January operation that captured Nicolás Maduro, Vance flew on Air Force Two to Montana’s Yellowstone Club, where he met Addison, according to a person familiar with the matter. Flight records show Addison’s private jet and the vice president’s plane parked together at Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport on December 27, 2025. That person said Vance asked how fast Venezuelan crude could be sold if the U.S. took control of the supplies, and Addison told him Vitol was uniquely placed for the job.
Addison and Vance’s office both denied that the meeting took place.
“And anyone who says so is absolutely making it up because I’ve never told a single soul that was the case,” Addison told Reuters.
Addison confirmed that Wright called him in Houston on January 5, 2026, two days after the operation, to ask whether Vitol wanted to sell Venezuela’s crude. The Energy Department confirmed the call but said Vance and Wright never discussed those sales, and that Vitol was chosen as the world’s largest energy and commodity trader. Within days, Vitol and rival Trafigura held special licenses to market the oil, with no competitive bidding, and both have since earned hundreds of millions of dollars. The administration says speed was needed to steady Venezuela’s economy.
Addison gave $300,000 in 2022 to a committee backing Vance’s Senate campaign, and he and his wife gave $7 million to political committees in 2024. He left Vitol in March and now co-chairs Wright’s energy policy advisory board.
In a separate Reuters report, Wright told reporters in New Orleans that he is willing to participate in investigations by Democratic lawmakers.
“Happy for any investigations. And we’re happy to explain everything we’ve done,” he said.
I’m Abhishek Sharma, an author at TigerJek.com. I enjoy exploring games, testing different strategies, and turning what I learn into clear, useful guides. My goal is to help players understand the game better and improve without the usual confusion.
