{"id":54376,"date":"2025-10-23T08:31:30","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T08:31:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=54376"},"modified":"2025-10-23T08:31:30","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T08:31:30","slug":"senate-democrats-question-trumps-special-envoy-about-crypto-holdings-in-new-letter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=54376","title":{"rendered":"Senate Democrats Question Trump\u2019s Special Envoy About Crypto Holdings In New Letter"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a recent letter, multiple Senate Democrats have raised concerns about a potential breach of federal ethics laws due to the US Special Envoy to the Middle East\u2019s failure to divest from his crypto asset holdings.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: 400;\">US Senators Question Witkoff\u2019s Crypto Holdings<\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On Wednesday, eight Senate Democrats, led by Senator Adam Schiff, questioned the US Special Envoy for peace missions, Steve Witkoff, about his digital asset ownership and his links to the Trump Family crypto ventures.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a letter <a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/crypto\/2025\/10\/22\/adam-schiff-senators-steve-witkoff-trump-uae-world-liberty-financial\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">shared<\/a> by Fortune, the US lawmakers raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest as Witkoff\u2019s latest financial disclosure showed that he has yet to divest from some of his crypto holdings, including an ownership stake in World Liberty Financial (WLF) and the company\u2019s WLFI token. Notably, the US Special Envoy is one of WLFI\u2019s co-founders alongside his son, Zach Witkoff, and members of the Trump Family.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-612138 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Captura-de-Pantalla-2025-10-22-a-las-11.24.38-a.-m.png?w=980&amp;resize=980%2C626\" alt=\"crypto\" width=\"980\" height=\"626\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Captura-de-Pantalla-2025-10-22-a-las-11.24.38-a.-m.png?w=1081 1081w, https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Captura-de-Pantalla-2025-10-22-a-las-11.24.38-a.-m.png?w=640 640w, https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Captura-de-Pantalla-2025-10-22-a-las-11.24.38-a.-m.png?w=768 768w, https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Captura-de-Pantalla-2025-10-22-a-las-11.24.38-a.-m.png?w=980 980w, https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Captura-de-Pantalla-2025-10-22-a-las-11.24.38-a.-m.png?w=750 750w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 980px) 100vw, 980px\"><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAs long as you maintain ownership of these assets, you stand to profit from any decisions you are involved with while serving in the Administration. Moreover, the public has ample reason to be concerned that your decision-making may also be influenced by your close personal and business ties to the Trump Organization,\u201d the letter read.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Senators noted that one of WLF\u2019s co-founders, Zak Folkman, previously affirmed that by May 23, 2025, Witkoff had \u201cno operational role, no financial interest in WLFI deals, and no influence on day-to-day decisions.\u201d Folkman also added that Witkoff was \u201cin the process of fully divesting from WLFI,\u201d which had not happened at the time of the release of White House financial report in August.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To the lawmakers, this underscores the \u201ctroubling entanglement\u201d between the US Special Envoy\u2019s official duties and his private financial interest tied to the Trump family businesses, highlighting World Liberty Financial\u2019s $2 billion deal with a United Arab Emirates (UAE) firm involving the company\u2019s stablecoin USD1.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As <a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/cz-slams-wsj-for-anti-crypto-hit-piece-denies-being-wlfis-fixer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener \">reported<\/a> by Bitcoinist, previous Wall Street Journal (WSJ) coverage raised similar concerns regarding the \u201cextraordinary blurring of government negotiations and private business dealings,\u201d claiming that it is \u201crewriting the diplomatic playbook for some foreign countries looking to gain traction with the new Trump administration.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In May, the WSJ claimed that father-and-son duo Steve and Zach Witkoff have potentially helped blur the lines of private business and public duties of the current administration, <a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/elizabeth-warren-asks-trumps-crypto-czar-for-public-disclosure-over-potential-conflicts-of-interest\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener \">highlighting<\/a> World Liberty Financial\u2019s deal to enable MGX\u2019s $2 billion investment.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The report also noted a previous article that claimed the elder Witkoff was allegedly involved in the talks between the Trump family and Binance. Nonetheless, these talks have been denied by Binance\u2019s co-founder and former CEO Changpeng \u201cCZ\u201d Zhao.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ethical Compliance Inquiries Mount<\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cYour failure to divest your ownership in these assets raises serious questions about your compliance with federal ethics laws and, more importantly, ability to serve the American people over your own financial interests,\u201d the lawmakers stated.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the letter, the Senate Democrats asked Witkoff to respond to multiple requests by October 31, 2025. Among the questions, they <a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/us-lawmakers-question-sec-acting-chair-about-trumps-crypto-ventures-in-new-letter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener \">inquired<\/a> about the status of his financial interest in the Trump-linked crypto company.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Additionally, they asked the US special Envoy if he had received a written waiver that exempts him from penalties and allows him to participate in key discussions with the UAE while owning a stake in WLFI.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If a waiver has not been granted, they also requested an explanation of how Witkoff\u2019s financial holdings do not violate federal ethics laws and regulations, which prohibit government officials from participating in ventures that could benefit them or their relatives.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s worth noting that Witkoff is one of multiple US officials who have been questioned about their own holdings or the US President\u2019s crypto ventures. In July, Senate Democrats <a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/senators-question-occ-chief-trumps-crypto-ventures\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener \">pressed<\/a> the new head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) about a potential conflict of interest related to the Trump family\u2019s stablecoin, USD1.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Earlier this year, two senators raised similar concerns in a letter to former acting chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mark Uyeda. Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers proposed the Curbing Officials\u2019 Income and Nondisclosure (COIN) Act to prevent crypto-related conflicts of interest four months ago.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A recent investigation <a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/trump-familys-crypto-fortune-soars-to-1b\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener \">highlighted<\/a> that, unlike most of his predecessors, President Trump has not put his crypto ventures in a trust managed by an independent party. However, the White House has denied any potential conflict of interest between the President\u2019s businesses and his official duties.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-612139 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WLFIUSDT_2025-10-22_13-28-41.png?w=980&amp;resize=980%2C531\" alt=\"crypto, WLFI, WLFIUSDT\" width=\"980\" height=\"531\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WLFIUSDT_2025-10-22_13-28-41.png?w=1154 1154w, https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WLFIUSDT_2025-10-22_13-28-41.png?w=640 640w, https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WLFIUSDT_2025-10-22_13-28-41.png?w=768 768w, https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WLFIUSDT_2025-10-22_13-28-41.png?w=980 980w, https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WLFIUSDT_2025-10-22_13-28-41.png?w=750 750w, https:\/\/bitcoinist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WLFIUSDT_2025-10-22_13-28-41.png?w=1140 1140w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 980px) 100vw, 980px\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a recent letter, multiple Senate Democrats have raised concerns about a potential breach of federal ethics laws due to the US Special Envoy to the Middle East\u2019s failure to divest from his crypto asset holdings. US Senators Question Witkoff\u2019s Crypto Holdings On Wednesday, eight Senate Democrats, led by Senator Adam Schiff, questioned the US [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3,4,5],"class_list":["post-54376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-crypto","tag-doge","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54376\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}