Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) has opened an investigation into President Trump’s meme coin dinner that happened final week and requested the White Home to reveal the names of the attendees, warning that overseas governments might be making an attempt to curry favor with the president by cryptocurrency acquisitions.
“I write today to demand that you release the names of all the attendees at this dinner and provide information about the source of the money they each used to buy $TRUMP coins, so that we can prevent illegal foreign government emoluments from being pocketed without congressional consent,” Raskin, the highest Democrat on the Home Judiciary Committee, wrote in a late Wednesday letter to Trump.
Raskin, who has typically criticized the president’s overseas dealings, argued that the disclosure of the names of the people who attended the Might 22 personal dinner at Trump’s golf membership will inform the general public about “who is putting tens of millions of dollars into our President’s pocket so we can start to figure out what — beyond virtually worthless memecoins — they are getting in exchange for all this money.”
The White Home didn’t instantly reply to The Hill’s request for remark.
The letter comes as Vice President Vance addressed the crypto trade on the Bitcoin Convention in Las Vegas this week, telling attendees to bolster their involvement in politics. The sector’s heavy hitters spent north of $200 million to again crypto-aligned candidates in the course of the 2024 election cycle.
“Take the momentum of your political involvement in 2024 and carry it forward to 2026 and beyond. Don’t ignore politics, because I guarantee you, my friends, politics is not going to ignore this community, not now and not in the future,” Vance instructed the gang on Wednesday.
Fairshake, a pro-crypto Tremendous PAC, and its two associates introduced in late January that they’ve $116 million in money readily available, making ready their warfare chest for the 2026 midterms.
The dinner final week was restricted to 220 attendees. The occasion drew $148 million in purchases, in keeping with crypto agency Inca Digital.
Presidents have lengthy attended personal dinners to fill the coffers of their political committees, however final week’s occasion will seemingly profit Trump family-affiliated companies, in keeping with Raskin. The consumers on the dinner weren’t required to file disclosures, as could be the case when donating to political committees.
“Profiting off the memecoin is just the latest in a bewildering gamut of schemes in which you and your family have profited after your return to office and what you call ‘the Swamp,’” the Maryland Democrat mentioned.
The White Home has beforehand mentioned the personal occasion doesn’t represent a battle of curiosity, saying that Trump’s property are managed by his sons in a blind belief. White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt instructed reporters the event “is not a White House dinner” and that Trump was attending it in “his personal time.”
Raskin additionally highlighted in his letter {that a} Chinese language-born crypto mogul Justin Solar invested $75 million in World Liberty Monetary, a Trump household enterprise, after the president received the 2024 presidential election. Then in February, the Securities and Change Fee requested a courtroom to halt a swimsuit in opposition to Solar for 2 months. The businessman has confronted market manipulation costs since 2023.
Solar confirmed that he’s the most important proprietor of the meme token on the dinner.
“Foreign nationals — who are not allowed to donate a dollar to your presidential campaign under federal election laws — are now purchasing access to you by buying millions of dollars of your personal memecoin,” Raskin wrote.
“Moreover, given the opaque nature of the cryptocurrency buying process, there are few ways to ensure that the money used to purchase your memecoins are not from foreign governments or illegal proceeds in connection with terrorism, drug and human trafficking, money laundering, or other illegal activities,” the Democratic lawmaker added.
