A progressive watchdog group is calling for an investigation into whether President Donald Trump’s promotion of a meme coin violated federal law.
In a complaint filed on Wednesday, Public Citizen asked the Department of Justice and the Office of Government Ethics to look into Trump’s repost on X in January of a cryptocurrency coin that he launched and owns. Federal law prohibits the president from soliciting gifts, the left-wing group said.
“The dangers inherent in the Trump meme portend ominously,” Public Citizen’s Bartlett Naylor and Craig Holman wrote in the complaint. “Should the president be allowed to enrich himself in this way, other politicians might follow this path, rendering the prohibition on solicitation in 18 U.S.C. § 201 and the prohibitions on receipt of gifts by officials other than the president virtually meaningless.”
Trump’s meme coin, called $TRUMP, was launched days before his inauguration. Meme coins have no intrinsic value and fluctuate their value based on speculation in the market. An affiliate of the Trump Organization called CIC Digital owns 80% of the coins.
As small traders lost money on the meme coin, entities behind it raked in around $100 million in trading fees, Reuters reported. Democratic lawmakers and ethics experts have raised concerns over the meme coin launch, claiming it gave the appearance of Trump cashing in on his presidency. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (R-MA) wrote a letter to the Office of Government Ethics remarking that “the leaders of hostile nations” could buy the coin, “raising the specter of uninhibited and untraceable foreign influence over the President of the United States.”
The meme coins “are not intended to be, or to be the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type,” according to a description on the meme website.
“Accordingly, a person sending money for a Trump meme is not purchasing a tangible product,” Public Citizen said in the complaint. “Instead, the person receives only a digital receipt (in a blockchain), which is similar to a donor sending a check and receiving digital confirmation that the check was received.”
Therefore, the watchdog said, Trump appears to be soliciting funds for “a gift that will benefit him personally.”
“Beyond the issue of solicitation, the Constitution (Article 1, Section 9) forbids accepting money (specifically a ‘present’ or ’emolument’) or anything of value from any ‘king, prince, or foreign state,’” the complaint said. “Because of the nature of a cryptocurrency exchange, it is difficult to know whether foreign state actors are gifting the president by way of purchasing a Trump meme. We urge you to investigate this issue, as well.”
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The White House did not respond to a request for comment, nor did the Justice Department.
The Office of Government Ethics declined to comment.
