Democrats Warning of ‘Crypto Corruption’ by Trump Family Walk Out of Congressional Hearing in Protest

The Trump family’s growing involvement in the cryptocurrency industry is drawing increasing scrutiny on Capitol Hill from Democratic lawmakers concerned about foreign influence on the presidency and what is being described as ‘blatant’ violations of ethics laws.Debate over the machinations of President Trump and his family in the industry reached such a pitch Tuesday that Democrats stormed out of a hearing intended to discuss legislation about digital assets in general and a group of Senate Democrats have proposed new rules barring presidents and their families from issuing or endorsing cryptocurrency assets.The subcommittee, which had arranged a meeting revolving around the future of digital assets, was thrown into disarray when Congresswoman Maxine Waters withdrew her unanimous consent for the hearing, blocking it from continuing, and proceeded to walk out.“I object to this joint hearing because of the corruption of the president of the United States and his ownership of crypto and his oversight of all of the agencies,” Ms. Waters said. “We should be discussing Trump’s crypto corruption.”“President Trump and his family are exploiting the presidency to enrich themselves using their personal crypto business,” Congressman Stephen Lynch added, also objecting to a continuation of the hearing. “Never in American history has a sitting president so blatantly violated the ethics laws.”The chairman of the subcommittee, Congressman Bryan Steil, tried to take control back, but Mr. Lynch continued yelling out his complaints. “The gentleman is no longer recognized,” Mr. Steil repeated multiple times, drowning out Mr. Lynch’s objections.When Mr. Lynch finally ended his lengthy statement, Mr. Steil announced that the hearing would change to a roundtable discussion. At that point, Ms. Waters and several other Democrats left to convene their own meeting.The walkout comes amid reports that Senate Democrats will soon propose a ban on presidents, lawmakers, and their families from issuing, endorsing, or sponsoring crypto assets. Senator Markey was expected to introduce the End Crypto Corruption Act on Tuesday, according to a report from Axios. Senators Schumer and Gillibrand will act as co-sponsors.The president has declared himself to be the first “crypto president” and has gone all in on digital currencies, with moves to scale back enforcement and regulations placed on the industry. Mr. Trump often posts on his Truth Social page promoting his “$TRUMP” cryptocurrency and other digital assets.Mr. Trump’s family took control of a cryptocurrency venture firm, World Liberty Financial, this year, and are raking in 75 percent of net revenues from token sales. The Trump family has also reaped up to $400 million in transaction fees from the venture, according to Reuters.The firm also recently secured a deal to take in $2 billion in deposits backed by the government of Abu Dhabi, the New York Times reports. The deal has led Senate Democrats to demand changes to the so-called GENIUS Act, a piece of legislation to regulate the stablecoin industry. It had appeared to be headed to an easy passage but some Democrats have pulled support for it in its current form over concerns it could directly benefit the Trump family’s crypto business.“The Trump family stablecoin surged to 7th largest in the world because of a shady crypto deal with the United Arab Emirates — a foreign government that will give them a crazy amount of money,” Senator Warren said in an X post. “The Senate shouldn’t pass a crypto bill this week to facilitate this kind of corruption.”

Democrats Warning of ‘Crypto Corruption’ by Trump Family Walk Out of Congressional Hearing in Protest

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