Democrats push for ethics probe over Trump’s crypto projects

Democrat Representative Gerald Connolly called on the United States Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to Investigate United States President Donald Trump’s crypto projects.

Connolly voiced his concerns over a possible conflict of interest in a Jan. 21 letter to the committee’s Republican chair, James Comer.

“This Committee must take immediate action to investigate the grave conflicts of interest Donald Trump carries with him to the Office of the President. […] Presidential conflicts of interest are proliferating wildly. […] President Trump’s new crypto venture, World Liberty Financial (WLF), provides one particularly troubling example.”

Connolly also claimed that the committee’s response will show whether it is loyal to the United States people. He wrote:

“This is not merely a matter of consistency—it is a fundamental test of our Committee’s integrity and its commitment to the American people.”

Connolly finds Trump’s World Liberty Finance (WLF) to be a conflict of interest because its top investor Tron (TRX) founder Justin Sun was charged with securities fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Still, Republicans are now raising issue with past enforcement actions by the regulator against the crypto industry.

In November 2024, Republican state attorney generals and the DeFi Education Fund have gone as far as to sue the SEC and its five commissioners. The suit asks for a federal judge to block the regulator from further enforcement actions, claiming that “the SEC’s ‘crypto policy’ is ‘unlawful executive action’” that violated the Administrative Procedures Act.

Still, according to Connolly such financial relationships raise “serious national security concerns” over potential foreign influence on United States policy. Sun invested $75 million into WLF though token acquisitions, which according to Connolly helped the Trump family’s company to surpass its self-determined revenue threshold:

“The individual’s purchase of $30 million in WLF tokens in November 2024 allowed Mr. Trump’s company to reach—and then exceed—its self-determined revenue threshold which could begin funneling cash directly to President Trump and his family. 5 This means that President Trump may already be directly profiting from the WLF venture. Prior to this investment, WLF ‘was a bust’ with ‘lackluster sales.'”

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