Home House Dem calls for probe into Trump’s crypto interests

House Dem calls for probe into Trump’s crypto interests

A House Democrat has called out President Donald Trump’s crypto interests, suggesting there may be a conflict of interest with his primary, presidential responsibilities.

The 47th POTUS has barely got his feet under the table in the Oval Office, but already he has signed off on a slew of executive orders, with more than 100 sealed on inauguration day on Monday (20 Jan). 

With aspirations to make the United States the crypto capital of the world, Trump is making gains with his World Liberty Financial (WLF) platform and the Official Trump (TRUMP) meme coin, with the latter launched just days before his official return to power. 

With the President’s vested crypto interests in mind, Representative Gerald Connolly of Virginia penned a letter to Chairperson James Comer, asking the House Committee for Oversight and Reform to commence an investigation.

Connolly wants the Committee to probe Trump’s projects to determine if there is a conflict of interests.

Serious national security concerns

An added issue of contention for the U.S. representative for Virginia’s 11th congressional district is the involvement of Justin Sun in WLF. 

As a foreign individual who has been charged with securities fraud by the SEC, Connolly said this makes the platform “particularly troubling”. 

With an investment of around $75 million, Sun is thought to be WLF’s biggest backer. 

He pumped the funds into the World Liberty token, which Connolly suggests could have assisted the Trump family in exceeding its self-determined revenue threshold, opening the possibility of a source of cash into the President’s own purse.

Connolly stated “entanglements” like this raise the prospect of foreign influence on U.S. policy, as well as posing “serious national security concerns”.

“Allowing such practices to persist unchecked would signal to the American people that the Oversight Committee is unwilling or unable to enforce the standards it claims to uphold,” stated Connolly.

He continued the salvo against Trump and his conflicting crypto interests with the assertion that the President is not likely to uphold a “single provision” of the Presidential Ethics Reform Act without pressure being applied from the Committee. 

This is the legislation that concerns financial matters and checks on potential conflicts within other matters in its remit.

Image credit: Via Grok/X

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The ReadWrite Editorial policy involves closely monitoring the tech, gambling and blockchain industries for major developments, new product and brand launches, AI breakthroughs, game releases and other newsworthy events. Editors assign relevant stories to in-house staff writers with expertise in each particular topic area. Before publication, articles go through a rigorous round of editing for accuracy, clarity, and to ensure adherence to ReadWrite's style guidelines.

Graeme Hanna
Tech Journalist

Graeme Hanna is a full-time, freelance writer with significant experience in online news as well as content writing. Since January 2021, he has contributed as a football and news writer for several mainstream UK titles including The Glasgow Times, Rangers Review, Manchester Evening News, MyLondon, Give Me Sport, and the Belfast News Letter. Graeme has worked across several briefs including news and feature writing in addition to other significant work experience in professional services. Now a contributing news writer at ReadWrite.com, he is involved with pitching relevant content for publication as well as writing engaging tech news stories.

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