'Release the Names': Raskin Opens Probe Into Trump's Corrupt Meme Coin Dinner

Calling U.S. President Donald Trump's recent dinner with cryptocurrency investors "the latest in a bewildering gamut of schemes" aimed at making a profit off the presidency, Rep. Jamie Raskin is demanding the White House release the names of those who attended the event—warning that Americans currently don't know whether foreign governments, criminal enterprises, or other groups may have paid hundreds of millions of dollars for Trump's meme coin.

Trump held an "intimate private dinner" with the top 220 holders of his $TRUMP cryptocurrency memecoin, which has no underlying value but nonetheless reached $14 billion in market value after the president announced its release just before his inauguration.

The coin quickly collapsed and lost 90% of its value, but surged by more than 50% after Trump announced the May 22 dinner at his golf club outside Washington, D.C.

Little is known about many of the top purchasers of the coin, according to an analysis by The Washington Post, which found 28 untraceable "ghost wallets" were behind some purchases. About half of the top 220 owners received coins from crypto exchanges that reject U.S.-based customers, suggesting they could be foreign buyers.

"A close analysis of the top buyers on the 'leaderboard' on the website of $TRUMP shows that a majority of the attendees appear to be foreign nationals who purchased the token through offshore cryptocurrency exchanges that prohibit U.S. customers from participating," wrote Raskin (D-Md.). "Analysis reveals that 161 of the 220 top buyers, or 73% of the invitees, are likely foreign nationals. Among the top 25 'VIP' guests who were offered additional private access to you, including a 'VIP White House tour'—and who each spent between $1.25 million and $16 million on $TRUMP tokens—23 out of 25 are likely foreign individuals or entities."

The congressman also asked what steps the White House had taken to determine the source of funds used by purchasers to pay for the coin, noting that if the money came from foreign governments, the purchasers could be seeking to influence the president.

"I write today to demand that you release the names of all the attendees at this dinner and provide information about the source of the money they each used to buy $TRUMP coins, so that we can prevent illegal foreign government emoluments from being pocketed without congressional consent," wrote Raskin. "Publication of this list will also let the American people know who is putting tens of millions of dollars into our president's pocket so we can start to figure out what—beyond virtually worthless memecoins—they are getting in exchange for all this money."

The Trump Organization, the president's family business, operates the meme coin along with a company registered in Delaware and run by Trump ally Bill Zanker. The two companies own 80% of the 1 billion $TRUMP coins, have received $312 million from crypto sales since Trump took office, and profited from the coin sales at the dinner, in which buyers were not subject to disclosure requirements as they would be for campaign donations.

Raskin pointed to one attendee and buyer whose identity is known—Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun—as more evidence of corruption at the dinner. Sun was sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission last year for illegally distributing billions of crypto assets and concealing payments to celebrity endorsers to promote his cryptocurrency. The charges were dropped after Sun purchased $75 million in another Trump crypto venture. Sun reportedly bought $23 million in $TRUMP coins.

When asked last week whether the White House would release the names of dinner attendees, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said she would "raise that question" but claimed the event was one that Trump attended "in his personal time" and not in an official capacity.

Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, applauded Raskin for opening the investigation. During both of Trump's terms, CREW has demanded accountability for Trump's alleged violations of the Constitution's Emoluments Clause, which bars presidents from accepting gifts from foreign governments.

"Your White House has repeatedly promised a presidency that is the 'most transparent and accessible' in American history," wrote Raskin to the president. "But so far, you have failed to deliver, refusing to divulge even the names of the largely foreign attendees at your world-famous crypto dinner. The American people deserve better and, given our constitutional strictures against foreign government money going to our president, this is a matter of great urgency and importance. We deserve to know who is paying for access to our president, and what steps you took to ensure that the funds you receive are legitimate and legal, rather than the proceeds from foreign states or monarchs or illegal activities."