Democratic leaning organizations and members of Congress have announced plans to protest what they describe as the sale of access to the office of the US president, in reference to Donald Trumpโs memecoin dinner on May 22. The eventโs attendees are said to have collectively spent over $100 million for the chance to meet with the US president.
Since Trumpโs memecoin project, Official Trump (TRUMP), announced that its top 220 tokenholders would have an opportunity to apply for an exclusive dinner with the president, many leaders in the crypto industry and US lawmakers have criticized the event, saying Trump was opening his office to potential bribery and corruption.
The memecoin dinner prompted some Democratic lawmakers to withdraw support for crypto-related legislation in Congress, including the market structure and stablecoin bills.
โTrump collecting gifts from foreign governments is unconstitutional,โ a spokesperson for the consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen, which is planning to protest near the memecoin dinner on May 22, told Cointelegraph. โCollecting foreign government investments through his memecoin is not much better. American foreign policy should not be for sale.โ
Crypto industry figures such as Tron founder Justin Sun, Kronos Research chief investment officer Vincent Liu, Hyperithm co-CEO Oh Sangrok, and Synthetix founder Kain Warwick are among the tokenholders expected to attend the dinner at the Trump National Golf Club outside Washington, DC. The memecoin project said all applicants had to pass a background check and could not be from a โ[Know Your Customer] watchlist country.โ
Related: Democrats seek suspicious activity reports linked to Trump crypto ventures
Public Citizen, in partnership with progressive political organization Our Revolution, will hold a rally near the golf club, which Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley is expected to attend. In addition, the Arlington and Loudoun Democrats will be hosting a separate event to urge US officials to โhold [Trump] accountable,โ and Democratic leadership in Congress has scheduled two press events on May 22 ahead of the dinner.
โAmericans cannot and will not accept President Trumpโs view that positions of power exist only to benefit the holder of that power,โ Ryan Ruzic, chair of the Loudoun County Democratic Committee, told Cointelegraph. โWe have a moral responsibility to speak out against corruption, whatever the result may be.โ
Pushback on TRUMP memecoin affected crypto legislation
Some lawmakers initially cited the memecoin dinner and the Trump familyโs involvement with the crypto platform World Liberty Financial in opposing passage of the GENIUS Act, a bill to regulate payment stablecoins. World Liberty Financial began issuing its own USD1 stablecoin in March, prompting concerns about Trumpโs conflicts of interest. However, the legislation passed a key procedural vote in the Senate on May 19 with support from Democrats, setting the bill up for debate in the chamber.
โMany senators, myself included, have very real concerns about the Trump familyโs use of crypto technologies to evade oversight, hide shady financial dealings, and personally profit at the expense of everyday Americans,โ said Sen. Mark Warner in a statement before the May 19 vote, adding: โBut we cannot allow that corruption to blind us to the broader reality: blockchain technology is here to stay.โ
Senator Chris Murphy, who voted against advancing the GENIUS Act, called for bipartisan support in amending the bill to specifically bar a US president from issuing stablecoins. He also called on the White House to release a complete list of attendees to the memecoin dinner, suggesting that some or all of them would โtry to get something from the presidentโ in exchange for purchasing the tokens.
Murphy and Senator Elizabeth Warren will attend a press event with representatives for Public Citizen on May 22. California Representative Maxine Waters, ranking member of the US House Financial Services Committee, announced a separate press conference for the same day, with plans to introduce a bill to โblock Trumpโs memecoin and stop his crypto corruption, once and for all.โ
As of May 21, the exact number of attendees to the dinner was unknown. A smaller group of 25 tokenholders also qualified to apply for โVIP tourโ and reception โ presumably at the White House โ with Trump, but the complete list of those planning to attend was also unknown at the time of publication.
Magazine: Trumpโs crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions
