Sen. Ossoff claims that Trump’s dinner with leading memecoin investors constitutes an “impeachable offense.”

Jon Ossoff, the Democratic senator from Georgia, has expressed that the invitation extended by President Donald Trump to prominent holders of a meme cryptocurrency constitutes grounds for impeachment. During a recent town hall meeting, he stated:

“He is providing audiences to individuals who purchase the memecoin that benefits him financially.”

Ossoff was referencing the announcement of a gala dinner for the top 220 owners of the Trump memecoin that was made on Wednesday.

He argued that this action amounts to “selling access in exchange for what are essentially payments” made directly to Trump. He concluded that this situation “meets the criteria for an impeachable offense, and that’s just one example of many,” he noted.

In U.S. history, only three presidents have faced impeachment from Congress, among them Trump, who has been impeached twice during his first term, making him the only president subject to two impeachment proceedings.

The impeachment protocol necessitates the House of Representatives to initiate a formal inquiry. If the House Judiciary Committee endorses it, articles of impeachment are forwarded to the full House, where a simple majority is needed for impeachment. However, a two-thirds majority in a Senate trial is required for removal from office.

Trump was acquitted twice during Senate trials following his impeachments, and no president in American history has ever been removed from office.

Ossoff indicated that he is working to gather support for impeachment, although with the Senate under Republican control, it remains a challenging endeavor.

Potential Gains for Trump from the Invitation to Memecoin Holders

The official site for Trump’s memecoins states that the top 220 $TRUMP holders will be invited to a gala dinner with the president on May 22. This event, described as the “most exclusive invitation worldwide,” will take place at Trump’s Private, Members-Only Club located in Washington, D.C.

The top 25 $TRUMP holders will also receive an invitation to an “Exclusive Reception” prior to the main dinner, which includes a VIP tour. As per the website, Trump will be addressing the “Future of Crypto” during the dinner event.

Approximately 80% of the total supply of the Official Trump memecoin, which launched on January 17, is owned by two entities: CIC Digital LLC and Fight Fight Fight LLC. Both are part of a conglomerate that includes Trump.

According to the tokenomics, these Trump-associated companies contributed 10% of the supply to the liquidity pool, making them market makers who ensure liquidity and facilitate trades. They charge a fee between 0.1% and 10% per trade based on market conditions.

Thus, Trump stands to gain more from the trading volume than from the memecoin’s price fluctuations. Nathan van der Heyden, the business development head at a crypto firm, remarked:

“If you possess a coin and manage the market-making and the associated fees, your focus is on trading volume and price volatility rather than the price itself.”

As of February, Reuters indicated that the Trump-affiliated entities had earned between $86 million and $100 million in trading fees by January 30. The price of the Trump memecoin peaked at around $75 on January 19, but dropped 64% to approximately $27 within the same timeframe, resulting in substantial earnings for Trump’s entities while small traders experienced losses.

Van der Heyden commented:

“Profiting from your own coin creates terrible optics, whereas earning from market-making remains sufficiently obscure to safeguard your reputation.”

Surge in $TRUMP Memecoin Trading Following Dinner Announcement

The prospect of dining with the President serves as a significant incentive for potential buyers of the memecoin. Traders can join a leaderboard that updates hourly to track their standings, yet their identities remain concealed behind their wallet addresses.

The dinner invitation triggered a trading frenzy for $TRUMP on Wednesday, resulting in a price increase of over 50% to around $14.50, according to data. At the time of this report, the memecoin’s trading price was $15.72, still over 79% below its all-time high.

As noted by van der Heyden, Trump-affiliated entities profiting from trading fees collected $1.6 million in fees within 24 hours following the dinner announcement, based on data.

Long-Term Outlook for the $TRUMP Price

Blockchain analytics firm Nansen suggests that seasoned traders utilized the Wednesday price surge to exit their positions in $TRUMP. In fact, “more individuals sold their Trump tokens than new buyers entered,” Nansen reported, further commenting:

“There appears to be some ongoing interest in trading $TRUMP—whether to secure a dinner ticket or to take advantage of price fluctuations.”

However, the long-term outlook for the $TRUMP price appears bleak, as crypto analyst Noelle Acheson warned that a price “slump” is “highly probable.”

Criticism of Trump’s Invitation

Ossoff is not the only voice of dissent regarding Trump’s dinner invitation to memecoin holders. Senator Chris Murphy from Connecticut expressed on social media:

“The Trump coin operation exemplifies the most overtly corrupt actions by a President in history.”

Many critics believe that financial gains derived from Trump’s policies constitute a conflict of interest. Others have noted that the invitation may be utilized by individuals seeking to gain access to Trump. Tony Carrk, executive director of a non-partisan advocacy organization, remarked:

“The President openly encourages investors to engage in a bidding war for access to him while personally benefitting.”

Carrk emphasized that Trump’s invitation clearly illustrates an abuse of his office for financial gain.

Earlier in the week, senators Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff urged the U.S. Office of Government Ethics to conduct an “urgent inquiry” into Trump’s dinner announcement, claiming it presents a “serious risk” that he and others might engage in “‘pay to play’ corruption.”