Back in late August, the White House announced that the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital would take a 35 percent position in the parent company of North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), which had received 100-year concessions on 17 Venezuelan oil fields that hold about 65 billion barrels. That's about a fifth of the nation's claimed 300 billion barrel oil reserves.

Democrats, who do not want American energy independence and who do not want lower gas prices, challenged the legality of this plan and are laying the groundwork for a possible probe into the deal.

Democrats on several committees, including Jeanne Shaheen (Foreign Relations), Jack Reed (Armed Services), Elizabeth Warren (Banking) and Martin Heinrich (Energy and Natural Resources) sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright about this plan.

Here's more from the Wall Street Journal:

Senate Democrats are challenging the legality and prudence of the Pentagon’s plan to take a stake in a Venezuelan oil company, laying the groundwork for a potential probe into the arrangement. 

The Pentagon’s deal for a position in North American Blue Energy Partners—Venezuela’s second-largest oil producer—stands on shaky legal ground and undermines the Latin American country’s pursuit of a democratic transition, four high-ranking Senate Democrats said in a letter sent to President Trump’s top lieutenants.

The U.S. unveiled plans in early September for the Pentagon to take a passive 35% stake in NABEP, which is set to receive control of 17 oil blocks said to contain some 65 billion barrels of oil. Venezuela says it has 300 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, more than any other country. As part of the arrangement, the State Department would get preferential rights to buy 20% of the production at cost.

Now Dylan Johnson, the Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs is slamming Democrats for canceling a scheduled briefing that would have provided them with documents about this deal.

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Johnson says the Democrats did this so they could "skip town and go on vacation."

As we pointed out earlier, high gas prices force Americans to drive less and take more public transportation. Democrats are fine with that.

They are. They'd rather we all die of heat stroke or extreme cold than give us clean, cheap, and reliable energy based on fossil fuels.

And before the midterms, Democrats think squawking about high gas prices will help them with voters. Stopping the Trump administration from getting oil that's ours and lowering gas prices is a great way to do this.