{"id":846398,"date":"2025-05-07T09:12:06","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T14:12:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/07\/senate-democrat-says-hes-looking-into-trumps-crypto-businesses\/"},"modified":"2025-05-07T09:12:06","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T14:12:06","slug":"senate-democrat-says-hes-looking-into-trumps-crypto-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/07\/senate-democrat-says-hes-looking-into-trumps-crypto-businesses\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate Democrat Says He&#8217;s Looking Into Trump&#8217;s Crypto Businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-module-name=\"article-header\" data-module-version=\"1.0.0\" data-module-instance=\"default\">\n<h2>Sen. Richard Blumenthal wrote letters to Trump-affiliated business executives, asking about their ownership and investment structure. <\/h2>\n<p><span class> May 6, 2025, 10:30\u202fp.m. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-module-name=\"article-body\" data-module-version=\"1.0.0\" data-module-instance=\"default\">\n<p>The leading Senate Democrat on a panel tasked with investigating corruption and mismanagement is scrutinizing U.S. President Donald Trump&#8217;s recent crypto activities and whether they&#8217;re part of a &#8220;pay-to-play scheme to provide access to the Presidency to the highest bidder.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Richard Blumenthal, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations \u2014 a panel housed within the Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs \u2014 wrote letters to <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hsgac.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025-05-06-Letter-from-Sen.-Richard-Blumenthal-to-Fight-Fight-Fight.pdf\">Bill Zanker of Fight Fight Fight LLC<\/a> and <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hsgac.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025-05-06-Letter-from-Sen.-Richard-Blumenthal-to-Fight-Fight-Fight.pdf\">Zach Witkoff, a co-founder of World Liberty Financial<\/a> on Tuesday, asking them a series of questions about the ownership and investment structure for Trump-affiliated entities, including Fight Fight Fight LLC (the company behind the TRUMP memecoin), CIC Digital LLC (which issued Trump&#8217;s NFTs and co-owns Fight Fight Fight), Celebration Cards LLC (another entity affiliated with Trump&#8217;s NFTs) and DTTM Operations LLC (which manages Trump&#8217;s IP rights), as well as World Liberty Financial and its affiliated entities.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations is conducting a preliminary inquiry into potential conflicts of interest and violations of the law from President Trump&#8217;s cryptocurrency ventures \u2026 and associated businesses&#8217; financial dealings with foreign nationals, foreign governments and other cryptocurrency firms,&#8221; the letters both said, with one pointing to World Liberty Financial and the other to the $TRUMP memecoin.<\/p>\n<p>The letters went on to say that the businesses &#8220;may be enabling the violation of government ethics requirements,&#8221; before posing a number of questions for the companies&#8217; respective executives.<\/p>\n<p>These questions include asking how the companies identify or block investments from foreign governments, how much revenue they&#8217;ve generated and whether individuals facing prosecution or investigations can participate.<\/p>\n<p>The letters also ask the executives to produce records tied to the Trump-affiliated crypto businesses.<\/p>\n<p>Because Democrats are currently the minority party in the Senate, Blumenthal does not have subpoena power unless his Republican counterpart, Sen. Ron Johnson, also signs on. A spokesperson for Johnson did not immediately return a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats have sounded the alarm over Trump&#8217;s crypto businesses in recent days. Earlier Tuesday, Rep. Maxine Waters, who leads her party on the House Financial Services Committee, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/policy\/2025\/05\/06\/planned-crypto-hearing-in-u-s-house-derailed-by-democrat-revolt\">objected to a joint hearing<\/a> with the House Agriculture Committee to address market structure legislation and instead hosted her own hearing focused on these crypto tie-ups.<\/p>\n<p>A weekend statement from Sen. Ruben Gallego and a handful of other Democrats saying the lawmakers would not vote for the Senate&#8217;s stablecoin bill <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/news-analysis\/2025\/05\/05\/trumps-ties-make-cryptos-democrat-allies-stomp-brakes-on-bills\">also seems to stem<\/a> from Trump&#8217;s crypto ties \u2014 in particular the announcement by Eric Trump that Abu Dhabi-based investment firm MGX would use the Trump-affiliated USD1 stablecoin to close a $2 billion investment into Binance.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Chris Murphy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/policy\/2025\/05\/06\/trump-s-crypto-play-fuels-senators-backlash-and-bill-to-ban-president-memecoins\">also introduced a bill<\/a> Tuesday which would ban the U.S. president and other senior government officials from issuing memecoins or other financial assets.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-module-name=\"authors-block\" data-module-version=\"1.0.0\" data-module-instance=\"default\">\n<div>\n<h5><a href=\"http:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/author\/nikhilesh-de\">Nikhilesh De<\/a><\/h5>\n<div>\n<p>Nikhilesh De is CoinDesk&#8217;s managing editor for global policy and regulation, covering regulators, lawmakers and institutions. He owns < $50 in BTC and < $20 in ETH. He won a Gerald Loeb award in the beat reporting category as part of CoinDesk's blockbuster FTX coverage in 2023, and was named the Association of Cryptocurrency Journalists and Researchers' Journalist of the Year in 2020.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" title=\"Personal Website\" href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/nikhileshde.bsky.social\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" fill=\"none\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M17 7H14C13.45 7 13 7.45 13 8C13 8.55 13.45 9 14 9H17C18.65 9 20 10.35 20 12C20 13.65 18.65 15 17 15H14C13.45 15 13 15.45 13 16C13 16.55 13.45 17 14 17H17C19.76 17 22 14.76 22 12C22 9.24 19.76 7 17 7ZM8 12C8 12.55 8.45 13 9 13H15C15.55 13 16 12.55 16 12C16 11.45 15.55 11 15 11H9C8.45 11 8 11.45 8 12ZM10 15H7C5.35 15 4 13.65 4 12C4 10.35 5.35 9 7 9H10C10.55 9 11 8.55 11 8C11 7.45 10.55 7 10 7H7C4.24 7 2 9.24 2 12C2 14.76 4.24 17 7 17H10C10.55 17 11 16.55 11 16C11 15.45 10.55 15 10 15Z\" fill=\"#262626\" \/><\/svg><\/svg><\/a><a target=\"_blank\" title=\"LinkedIn\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/nikhileshde\/\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" fill=\"none\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"><path d=\"M2.25362 9.21772H6.53986V22.1164H2.25362V9.21772ZM4.42543 3C2.95843 3 2 3.9631 2 5.22719C2 6.46529 2.93038 7.45638 4.36933 7.45638H4.39667C5.89171 7.45638 6.82276 6.46524 6.82276 5.22719C6.79471 3.9631 5.89176 3 4.42543 3ZM17.0638 8.91471C14.7886 8.91471 13.7693 10.1661 13.2007 11.0438V9.21772H8.91314C8.9699 10.4278 8.91314 22.1164 8.91314 22.1164H13.2007V14.9129C13.2007 14.527 13.2287 14.1427 13.3415 13.8663C13.652 13.0961 14.3574 12.2985 15.5407 12.2985C17.0931 12.2985 17.7131 13.4819 17.7131 15.2151V22.1163H22V14.72C22 10.7581 19.8856 8.91471 17.0638 8.91471Z\" fill=\"#262626\" \/><\/svg><\/a><a target=\"_blank\" title=\"Discord\" href=\"https:\/\/discord.gg\/discord.com\/users\/185272337690525705\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" fill=\"none\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"><path d=\"M19.6239 4.40921C18.2217 3.75695 16.7181 3.27639 15.1459 3.00116C15.1173 2.99585 15.0887 3.00912 15.0739 3.03567C14.8805 3.38436 14.6663 3.83925 14.5163 4.1968C12.8254 3.94015 11.1431 3.94015 9.48679 4.1968C9.33676 3.83131 9.11478 3.38436 8.92053 3.03567C8.90578 3.01001 8.87718 2.99673 8.84855 3.00116C7.27725 3.27551 5.7736 3.75607 4.37052 4.40921C4.35838 4.41452 4.34797 4.42338 4.34106 4.43488C1.48894 8.75461 0.707629 12.9682 1.09092 17.1295C1.09265 17.1498 1.10392 17.1693 1.11953 17.1817C3.00127 18.5827 4.82406 19.4332 6.61301 19.9969C6.64164 20.0058 6.67197 19.9951 6.69019 19.9712C7.11337 19.3854 7.49059 18.7676 7.81402 18.118C7.83311 18.08 7.81489 18.0348 7.77588 18.0198C7.17754 17.7897 6.6078 17.5091 6.05975 17.1906C6.0164 17.1649 6.01293 17.102 6.05281 17.0719C6.16814 16.9843 6.2835 16.8932 6.39363 16.8011C6.41355 16.7843 6.44131 16.7808 6.46474 16.7914C10.0652 18.4579 13.9631 18.4579 17.521 16.7914C17.5445 16.7799 17.5722 16.7834 17.593 16.8003C17.7032 16.8923 17.8185 16.9843 17.9347 17.0719C17.9746 17.102 17.972 17.1649 17.9286 17.1906C17.3806 17.5153 16.8108 17.7897 16.2116 18.0189C16.1726 18.034 16.1553 18.08 16.1744 18.118C16.5047 18.7667 16.882 19.3845 17.2973 19.9704C17.3147 19.9951 17.3459 20.0058 17.3745 19.9969C19.1721 19.4332 20.9949 18.5827 22.8766 17.1817C22.8931 17.1693 22.9035 17.1507 22.9053 17.1304C23.364 12.3194 22.1369 8.14042 19.6525 4.43576C19.6465 4.42338 19.6361 4.41452 19.6239 4.40921ZM8.35169 14.5957C7.26771 14.5957 6.37454 13.5868 6.37454 12.3478C6.37454 11.1087 7.25039 10.0998 8.35169 10.0998C9.46163 10.0998 10.3462 11.1176 10.3288 12.3478C10.3288 13.5868 9.45296 14.5957 8.35169 14.5957ZM15.6619 14.5957C14.5779 14.5957 13.6847 13.5868 13.6847 12.3478C13.6847 11.1087 14.5606 10.0998 15.6619 10.0998C16.7718 10.0998 17.6563 11.1176 17.639 12.3478C17.639 13.5868 16.7718 14.5957 15.6619 14.5957Z\" fill=\"#262626\" \/><\/svg><\/a><a target=\"_blank\" title=\"Telegram\" href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/nikhileshde\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 27 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M2.5 21L23.5 12L2.5 3V10L17.5 12L2.5 14V21Z\" fill=\"#262626\" \/><\/svg><\/a><a target=\"_blank\" title=\"X\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/nikhileshde\"><svg width=\"16\" height=\"16\" viewBox=\"0 0 1400 1027\" fill=\"none\" aria-labelledby=\"twitter-svg-a11y-label-id\"><title id=\"twitter-svg-a11y-label-id\">X icon<\/title><path d=\"M714.163 519.284L1160.89 0H1055.03L667.137 450.887L357.328 0H0L468.492 681.821L0 1226.37H105.866L515.491 750.218L842.672 1226.37H1200L714.137 519.284H714.163ZM569.165 687.828L521.697 619.934L144.011 79.6944H306.615L611.412 515.685L658.88 583.579L1055.08 1150.3H892.476L569.165 687.854V687.828Z\" fill=\"#262626\" \/><\/svg><\/a><a target=\"_blank\" title=\"Email\" href=\"http:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/mailto:ni*@******sk.com\" data-original-string=\"oqssgBYplrsNxYNtTGOEWQ==7f4KXkIYq15Y0DtvvJfn\/O+6wHncblawRFljS4o8HDehhs=\" title=\"This contact has been encoded by Anti-Spam by CleanTalk. Click to decode. To finish the decoding make sure that JavaScript is enabled in your browser.\"><svg width=\"16\" height=\"16\" fill=\"#262626\" version=\"1.1\" id=\"Capa_1\" viewBox=\"0 0 75.294 75.294\"><g><path d=\"M66.097,12.089h-56.9C4.126,12.089,0,16.215,0,21.286v32.722c0,5.071,4.126,9.197,9.197,9.197h56.9   c5.071,0,9.197-4.126,9.197-9.197V21.287C75.295,16.215,71.169,12.089,66.097,12.089z M61.603,18.089L37.647,33.523L13.691,18.089   H61.603z M66.097,57.206h-56.9C7.434,57.206,6,55.771,6,54.009V21.457l29.796,19.16c0.04,0.025,0.083,0.042,0.124,0.065   c0.043,0.024,0.087,0.047,0.131,0.069c0.231,0.119,0.469,0.215,0.712,0.278c0.025,0.007,0.05,0.01,0.075,0.016   c0.267,0.063,0.537,0.102,0.807,0.102c0.001,0,0.002,0,0.002,0c0.002,0,0.003,0,0.004,0c0.27,0,0.54-0.038,0.807-0.102   c0.025-0.006,0.05-0.009,0.075-0.016c0.243-0.063,0.48-0.159,0.712-0.278c0.044-0.022,0.088-0.045,0.131-0.069   c0.041-0.023,0.084-0.04,0.124-0.065l29.796-19.16v32.551C69.295,55.771,67.86,57.206,66.097,57.206z\" \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/author\/nikhilesh-de\"><img alt=\"Nikhilesh De\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"600\" height=\"603\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\"  src=\"http:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2Fs3y3vcno%2Fproduction%2F231f9aafdfa9618acc6f2928836396262a6dc1ef-600x603.jpg%3Fw%3D64%26h%3D64%26fit%3Dcrop%26crop%3Dfocalpoint%26auto%3Dformat&#038;w=1200&#038;q=75\"><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/policy\/2025\/05\/06\/senate-democrat-says-hes-looking-into-trumps-crypto-businesses\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><br \/>\n Nikhilesh De<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sen. Richard Blumenthal wrote letters to Trump-affiliated business executives, asking about their ownership and investment structure. May 6, 2025, 10:30\u202fp.m. The leading Senate Democrat on a panel tasked with investigating corruption and mismanagement is scrutinizing U.S. President Donald Trump&#8217;s recent crypto activities and whether they&#8217;re part of a &#8220;pay-to-play scheme to provide access to the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":846399,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2212,22721],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-846398","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-democrat","8":"category-senate"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=846398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846398\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/846399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=846398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=846398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=846398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}