John,
Did you see this headline?
New York Times: Trump Offers Private Dinner to Top 220 Investors in His Memecoin
President Trump is reportedly hosting a dinner for the top holders of the $TRUMP memecoin he profits from, including a private reception and White House tour for the top 25 investors. After the announcement of the event, the price of Trump’s coin surged more than 60%.
This is one of the most blatant and appalling instances of selling access to the presidency I've ever seen.
The New York Times summarized the ethics and corruption issues at play:
“In an astonishing escalation of the Trump family’s efforts to profit from crypto, a website promoting $TRUMP, the president’s so-called memecoin, announced on Wednesday that the coin’s largest buyers would be invited to meet him. The effort was, in effect, an offer of access to the White House in exchange for an investment in one of Mr. Trump’s crypto ventures…
For months, Mr. Trump’s forays into crypto have created ethical conflicts with little precedent in presidential history. As he markets digital currencies to the public, Mr. Trump has also appointed regulators who are scaling back crypto enforcement and called for legislation that would boost the industry’s prospects in the United States.”
Unfortunately, despite the egregious ethics concerns it raises for the president to be offering access to the White House to people who buy assets that he profits from, there are no ethics laws that bind the president outside of the Emoluments Clauses of the Constitution.
Those clauses bar the president from receiving profits, gains or advantages from foreign and state governments. So, unless a state or foreign government purchased the $TRUMP coins, there’s nothing barring this blatant grift.
John, part of the problem with Trump’s failure to divest from his businesses before taking office is that we don’t know who is spending money at his properties, investing in Truth Social or buying his crypto assets.
That means he could be violating the Constitution or accepting bribes without the public finding out.
That should concern every American.
CREW has gone to court to enforce the anti-corruption clauses in the Constitution, and we won’t hesitate to call out ethics issues wherever we see them. If you support this work, can you make a MATCHED donation today to support our fight for accountability?
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Thank you,
Donald Sherman
Executive Director and Chief Counsel
CREW
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