Democrats push back against Trump’s growing crypto empire

Democrats turned up the pressure on President Donald Trump‘s cryptocurrency ventures this week and the fortune that he and his family are making off the efforts as a vote rolls forward on a key crypto bill.

Thursday’s vote on the GENIUS ACT, a bill to establish federal rules for stablecoins, will be a test of how far the crypto lobby‘s influence goes after it heavily backed Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.

Even with limited power, Democrats are calling for probes into Trump-connected coins and backers, seeking financial records and blocking legislation.

On Capitol Hill Tuesday morning, California Rep. Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, walked out of a hearing on digital asset allocation flanked by fellow Democrats, effectively shutting it down.

That same morning, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., sent letters announcing an initial inquiry into the Trump family’s expanding crypto empire, calling the Trump meme coin dinner contest a “pay-for-play scheme.”

Blumenthal, the ranking member of the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, demanded records from Fight Fight Fight LLC. — the company behind the $TRUMP meme coin — and World Liberty Financial, a family-run crypto venture that recently announced plans to launch a stablecoin.

He called for documentation on ownership, revenue flows, and all communications with the White House, citing what he described as “unprecedented conflicts of interest and national security risks.”

Last month, the project ran a promotion offering top $TRUMP holders a dinner with the president and a “VIP White House tour,” a promise that sent the token’s price soaring after weeks of decline.

“President Trump’s financial entanglements to the $TRUMP coin, as well as the attempted use of the White House to host competitions to prop up the value of $TRUMP, represents an unprecedented, pay-to-play scheme to provide access to the Presidency to the highest bidder,” Blumenthal wrote.

Roughly 80% of the $TRUMP token supply is controlled by the Trump Organization and affiliates, according to the project’s website.

One of Blumenthal’s letters was addressed to Bill Zanker, the entrepreneur behind Fight Fight Fight, which controls a large portion of the $TRUMP token supply.

With the White House and both chambers of Congress controlled by Republicans, Democrats have little ability to push a legislative agenda or to lead investigations into potential malfeasance. But they’re betting that a coordinated effort to call out what they view as corruption in a formerly niche corner of the financial markets will resonate with a voter base that’s already souring on the president’s economic policies.

The White House responded to Blumenthal’s inquiry with a short statement from Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly to CNBC’s “Crypto World.”

“President Trump’s assets are in a trust managed by his children. There are no conflicts of interest,” she wrote.

Waters on Tuesday…