Trump Crypto Ventures Face Investigation Over Fraud, Bribery, and Conflicts Of Interest

Top House Democrats have launched an inquiry into President Donald Trump’s crypto ventures, citing concerns over potentially illegal fundraising, foreign influence, and abuse of political power.

In line with this, they have requested all suspicious activity reports (SARs) connected to Trump’s fundraising efforts.

The Allegations

In a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Democrats Gerald Connolly, Joseph Morelle, and Jamie Raskin, senior members from three House committees, said:

“We write regarding the potential misuse of certain politically oriented fundraising ventures for fraudulent, corrupt, or other illegal purposes.”

The inquiry targets the Republican fundraising platform WinRed, multiple political action committees, including Elon Musk’s America PAC, the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial (WLF), and meme coins linked to the president and first lady.

The lawmakers were specifically interested in World Liberty’s WLFI token sale. After failing to meet initial fundraising targets, WLF received a $75 million purchase from Justin Sun. The Tron founder has been under SEC scrutiny since 2023 but recently secured a pause in the case as discussions with regulators continued, raising suspicions of bribery.

The House Democrats also mentioned the TRUMP and MELANIA meme coins. According to them, entities affiliated with the president control 80% of the former’s supply and have earned over $100 million in trading fees.

Foreigners, some allegedly Chinese nationals, are also said to have made substantial profits selling the meme token early, while later investors lost more than $2 billion. These patterns have fueled accusations of possible insider trading and pump-and-dump activity.

The letter also addresses concerns about national security and foreign influence, given that coin buyers remain anonymous and most WLF tokens were sold to foreign investors. Connolly and company argued that this left room for non-natives to possibly gain influence over U.S. policy.

In March 2025, WLF announced plans to launch a stablecoin called USD1. Later, a fund backed by Abu Dhabi revealed it would use the stablecoin for a $2 billion investment in the Binance crypto exchange, which was previously convicted of violating U.S. anti-money-laundering laws.

The letter highlights that the timing and nature of this deal show the dangers of Trump’s conflicts of interest and the ethics of mixing business and presidential power.

Trump Faces Ongoing Scrutiny

The three legislators are demanding that all relevant SARs from January 1, 2023, to the present be made available to their committees by May 30. Their request comes amid increased pressure from Democrats seeking to regulate political involvement in crypto.

Last week, Rep. Ritchie Torres introduced a bill to ban sitting presidents and members of Congress from profiting off meme coins and stablecoins. In April, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff also called for an ethics probe after a Trump-hosted gala dinner promised exclusive invitations for top holders of his Solana-based meme coin.

Separately, Congress voted down the GENIUS Act, a bill that aims to regulate stablecoins, citing unresolved conflicts linked to Trump’s crypto dealings.