The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee is opening an investigation into President Donald Trump’s gala that was billed as the “most exclusive invitation in the world.” The 220 attendees spent a total $148 million to be at the dinner with the president, and Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., wants to know who they are.
Trump hosted a May 22 dinner for the top 220 holders of his cryptocurrency meme coin. In addition, the top 25 holders were given a VIP White House tour, all of whom spent between $1.25 and $16 million on the Trump coin.
Raskin’s investigation
Raskin wrote a letter to President Trump demanding he release the names and the source of money guests used to buy the $TRUMP cryptocurrency that was required for entry. Raskin said it will help shed light on potential emoluments clause violations, which prohibits any member of the federal government, including the president, from receiving gifts from foreigners without congressional consent.
“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,” Raskin wrote to Trump.
Raskin said it appears that most of the attendees were foreign nationals who are barred from donating to President Trump’s campaign. He cited an analysis from the Citation Needed newsletter, which found up to 73% of the guests were based outside the United States.
Raskin noted that known attendees included Justin Sun, a Chinese investor who was sued by the SEC for illegally trading crypto assets leading to artificially higher trading volume. Also in attendance were founders of crypto companies based out of South Korea, Australia, Taiwan and the Cayman Islands.
“Foreign nationals — who are not allowed to donate a dollar to your presidential campaign under federal election laws — are now purchasing access to you by buying millions of dollars of your personal memecoin,” Raskin wrote.
“Moreover, given the opaque nature of the cryptocurrency buying process, there are few ways to ensure that the money used to purchase your memecoins are not from foreign governments or illegal proceeds in connection with terrorism, drug and human trafficking, money laundering or other illegal activities,” Raskin continued.
The congressman also objected to the fact that nearly a quarter of the attendees hold crypto coins that are named for Pepe the Frog, an allegedly alt-right character symbol sometimes used in antisemitic messages. He also pointed out that nine of the attendees’ crypto wallets had crypto assets with names that are outright racist or antisemitic, including “F the Jews,” the n-word and a swastika.
Raskin is demanding that the president turn the information over, and gave a deadline of June 4 to comply. The reality is that Raskin did not and cannot issue a subpoena because he is the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, not its chairman. Therefore, he has no way to compel the president to comply.
