Senate Democrat Launches Inquiry into Trump’s Cryptocurrency Ventures

The prominent Senate Democrat leading a committee on corruption and mismanagement is examining President Donald Trump’s recent ventures in cryptocurrency to determine if they are linked to a pay-for-access strategy that grants privileged access to the Presidency for financial gain.

Richard Blumenthal, who serves as the top Democrat on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, initiated communications with Bill Zanker of Fight Fight Fight LLC and Zach Witkoff, co-founder of World Liberty Financial, inquiring about the ownership and investment dynamics of Trump-affiliated businesses. These include Fight Fight Fight LLC, CIC Digital LLC, Celebration Cards LLC, and DTTM Operations LLC, alongside World Liberty Financial and its affiliates.

“The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has begun a preliminary examination of potential ethical conflicts and possible legal infractions related to President Trump’s cryptocurrency initiatives and their financial engagements with international entities,” the letters stated, with one specifically mentioning World Liberty Financial and the $TRUMP memecoin.

Furthermore, the letters expressed concern that these entities “could be facilitating violations of government ethics rules,” leading to several targeted inquiries for the executives of these companies.

The questions posed cover a range of topics, such as the mechanisms these firms employ to screen out investments from foreign governments, the overall revenue generated, and the implications for individuals currently facing legal scrutiny or investigation.

Additionally, the letters requested that executives supply documentation related to the Trump-associated cryptocurrency operations.

Given that Democrats are currently outnumbered in the Senate, Blumenthal lacks subpoena authority unless his Republican colleague, Senator Ron Johnson, consents. A request for comment from Johnson’s office went unanswered.

In recent days, Democratic officials have raised significant concerns regarding Trump’s cryptocurrency ventures. Earlier that day, Representative Maxine Waters, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, criticized a collaborative hearing with the House Agriculture Committee intended for market structure legislation, opting instead to hold a separate hearing focused on these cryptocurrency enterprises.

A statement issued over the weekend by Senator Ruben Gallego and several other Democrats indicated that they would not support the Senate’s stablecoin legislation, possibly in response to Trump’s connections with these cryptocurrency activities, particularly regarding Eric Trump’s announcement about the Abu Dhabi-based investment firm MGX using the Trump-related USD1 stablecoin for a $2 billion investment in Binance.

Senator Chris Murphy also introduced a bill aiming to prohibit the U.S. president and other high-ranking government officials from creating memecoins or similar financial instruments.