WASHINGTON, March 17 (Reuters) - The top Democrat on the

Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday asked the White House

if investors are paying $10 billion to the Treasury as part of

the Trump administration-brokered sale of TikTok's U.S.

operations.

Senator Mark Warner cited a Wall Street Journal report that

investors in the new TikTok joint venture - including Oracle,

Silver Lake, Abu Dhabi's MGX, and other investors - have already

paid $2.5 billion to the Treasury and will pay the remaining

$7.5 billion in installments. China's ByteDance said in January

TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC will secure U.S. user data, apps

and algorithms through data privacy and cybersecurity measures.

Warner said $10 billion represents roughly 71% of the joint

venture's publicly announced $14 billion valuation.

The White House and TikTok did not immediately comment.

TikTok has refused to answer many questions about the deal.

"This arrangement, if true, would continue a pattern set by

the Trump administration of exercising the power and authority

of the government to benefit certain companies and individuals

close to the President, and to extract financial concessions as

a condition of doing so," Warner wrote. "The opaque,

uncompetitive, and ad hoc process surrounding this

government-brokered sale, with numerous clear conflicts of

interest, has no analogue in modern American history."

A law passed by Congress in 2024 required ByteDance to sell

its U.S. assets ​by January 2025 or face a ban or potentially

hundreds of billions of dollars in fines.

The Trump administration has sought to receive cash or stock

as part of major transactions, including a 9.9% stake in Intel

in exchange for government grants. The government has also taken

stakes in metals and mining firms.

Warner said he wants the administration to disclose the

legal authority for approving the sale, the basis for seeking

$10 billion, how the figure was determined, any direct

involvement by Trump and the intended use of the funds.

Earlier this month, Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi

were sued by retail investors in two social ‌media rivals of

TikTok seeking to reverse the U.S. president's approval of the

joint venture.