A top House Democrat has launched an investigation of US President Donald Trump’s private dinner with investors of his official TRUMP memecoin. A week after the controversial event, the House Representative seeks to shed light on some of the ethical and legal concerns raised by several Democrats.
In a letter reviewed by The Washington Post, the congressman urged Trump to disclose several concerns regarding the identity of the dinner attendees and the origin of the millions invested in the president’s memecoin.
Additionally, the top 25 holders would be invited to an exclusive reception with Trump and enjoy a guided tour of the White House. The news raised concerns among multiple lawmakers that foreign governments seeking to influence the White House could invest in the token.
According to the letter, “Publication of this list will also let the American people know 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.”
Blockchain analytics firm Nansen reported a month ago that the top 100 TRUMP holders increased their balance by over 940,000 tokens in just one hour following the announcement.
Representative Raskin considers the memecoin dinner to be the most recent example of the President’s alleged schemes to blur the lines between his business interests and the office.
Last week, the White House’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, affirmed that the memecoin dinner did not pose a conflict of interest to the President, alleging that it was not a White House dinner, and he was attending the event on his “personal time.”
The bill, co-sponsored by 14 House Representatives, seeks to prevent the US President, Vice President, Members of Congress, and their immediate families from participating in any crypto venture that would allow them to profit while they’re in office.
