A damning new staff report from House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin has unveiled serious allegations that former President Donald Trump leveraged his time in office to significantly bolster his personal fortune through cryptocurrency ventures. Titled Trump, Crypto, and a New Age of Corruption, the report paints a picture of systemic self-dealing, arguing that policy decisions, regulatory dismantling, and even presidential pardons were strategically deployed to benefit Trump's vast crypto portfolio, which is estimated to be worth up to $11.6 billion.
Allegations of Self-Enrichment and "Shadow Lobbying"
The report meticulously outlines how President Trump's substantial holdings in digital assets, including World Liberty Financial (WLF) and the memecoin TRUMP, created profound conflicts of interest. Committee staff contend that these holdings allowed foreign and corporate actors to channel capital into his ventures, effectively bypassing traditional campaign finance restrictions through what the report labels "shadow lobbying." This mechanism involves entities purchasing tokens or providing liquidity to Trump-linked decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, transactions that are theoretically unlimited and anonymous. A stark example cited is the alleged correlation between Binance-linked entities supporting WLF and President Trump issuing a full pardon to Binance's former CEO, Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, shortly after Binance’s substantial settlement with the DOJ. The report asserts that holding governance tokens, rather than traditional equity, enabled Trump to benefit from price appreciation driven by his own policy announcements, a dynamic characterized as "self-dealing."
Regulatory Interference and National Security Implications
Beyond direct financial gain, the report details extensive changes to the federal regulatory framework, allegedly designed to shield Trump's crypto investors and donors. It highlights the dissolution of the DOJ’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) and claims the Administration intervened to halt investigations into major cryptocurrency firms like Coinbase, Kraken, Ripple, and Gemini, whose executives were noted donors or supporters. Furthermore, the report alleges market manipulation through a "crypto-strategic reserve" policy, where the inclusion of specific tokens like Solana (SOL) and Ripple (XRP) led to immediate price surges, directly benefiting donors holding large positions in these assets. Grave national security concerns are also raised, citing a transaction where a UAE-based firm, allegedly supporting the Trump crypto ecosystem, gained access to advanced American AI chips despite objections from the National Security Council, leading to the reported firing of six NSC staff members who voiced concerns. The report concludes by identifying critical weaknesses in existing anti-bribery and conflict-of-interest laws, arguing that current statutes are ill-equipped to address the complexities of decentralized digital assets. It calls for immediate congressional reforms to close these legislative loopholes and restore accountability and integrity to the executive branch, warning that without reform, the pseudonymous nature of cryptocurrency creates a perilous new channel for undue influence.
