Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Elissa Slotkin are asking for an investigation into U.S. President Donald Trump, his family, and some top officials in his government over the possible ethics violations tied to World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a crypto company co-founded by Trump and his sons.
In a letter sent on Wednesday, the senators requested reviews from the Commerce Department, the State Department, and the Office of Government Ethics after reports linked Trump’s allies to business deals with the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
This request came after a report from the New York Times claimed two major deals involving crypto investments and the approval of advanced U.S. computer chips.
The Times reported that an Emirati firm called MGX is planning to invest $2 billion into Binance exchange using WLF’s new stablecoin, USD1. Then, just last week, the Trump administration approved sending hundreds of thousands of advanced U.S. computer chips to the UAE.
These chips are vital for artificial intelligence, and some White House staff are worried that they could fall into the hands of China.
The senators said two senior figures were directly tied to these events. One was David Sacks, who is the current White House adviser on crypto and artificial intelligence while also a venture capitalist. The other was Steve Witkoff, a longtime Trump friend and envoy to the Middle East.
Witkoff’s son, Zach, is the CEO of World Liberty Financial. Warren and Slotkin wrote that “the pattern of these transactions is deeply troubling and reveals that Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Sacks were in positions to control government decisions to personally enrich themselves – even as they created significant national security concerns.”
Previous request from Senate Democrats
Meanwhile, a group of Democrats had previously requested the Department of Justice to answer about the family’s ties to Binance through World Liberty Financial.
In a previous report covered earlier this month, the Senetor Warren together with Mazie Hirono and Richard Blumenthal asked the agency whether Binance is following the terms of its 2024 $4.3 billion plea deal for money laundering. The senator said they expect an answer for transparency by October 1.
Family ties raise ethical questions
World Liberty Financial is backed by the Trump and Witkoff families, with the Trumps listed as co-founders. Disclosure reports showed that the Witkoffs hold billions of WLFI tokens, worth nearly $800 million at current prices.
Ethics lawyers told the New York Times that Witkoff’s financial interests could put him in direct conflict with federal rules that bar officials from decisions benefiting their holdings.
However, the White House has pushed back against this. In a statement, Counsel David Warrington said Witkoff “is taking all the legal steps necessary to divest” from private businesses.
A White House spokeswoman also added that Sacks had “no financial interest” in the chip deal and was given a waiver to join the talks. Representatives for the inspectors general declined to confirm whether any inquiry is underway.
Meanwhile, Eric Trump, the fourth son of the President, defended his family in an interview with CNBC. “My father’s the first guy who hasn’t made money off of the presidency. We’ve always been serial capitalists; we’ve always had companies. Crypto came out of a necessity that we were debanked by everybody and needed to find a new way.” He said.
Warren and Slotkin’s letter concluded that “such unbridled conflicts of interest have no place in the U.S. government.”
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