Update (Sept. 25 at 3:07 pm UTC): This article has been updated to include a statement from a White House official.
Update (Sept. 25 at 5:05 pm UTC): This article has been updated to better reflect the intent of the Warren-Slokin letter.
Two Democratic lawmakers on the US Senate Banking Committee and Senate Agriculture Committee said an investigation into two White House officials was “critical” amid consideration of a digital asset market structure bill.
In a Tuesday letter to officials in the US State Department, Commerce Department and Department of Ethics, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Elissa Slotkin called for authorities to investigate US President Donald Trump’s AI and crypto czar, David Sacks, and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff.
The two Democratic lawmakers asked the officials for information as to whether “politically connected crypto interests are undermining our national security,” adding that the probe should come as Congress considers a digital asset market structure bill currently moving through the Senate.
Warren’s and Slotkin’s letter stemmed from a Sept. 15 New York Times report regarding a $2 billion deal between Abu Dhabi-based investment company MGX and cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
The investment, announced in March, was settled using the USD1 stablecoin issued by the Trump family’s crypto business, World Liberty Financial. According to The New York Times, Sacks and Witkoff facilitated the deal by offering the UAE access to AI chips.
“In the history of our country’s foreign policy, one is hard-pressed to find two senior officials with such significant conflicts of interest involved in decisions regarding national security,” wrote the two senators. “Such unbridled conflicts of interest have no place in the US government, and we urge you to undertake a swift and thorough evaluation of these allegations.”
The letter added:
“This information is also critical as Congress considers legislation for digital asset market structure and attempts to ensure that crypto corruption does not undermine our national security.”
Related: Trump’s World Liberty mints 9% of USD1 supply after Waller speech
Warren, the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, and Slotkin, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, could represent crucial votes and a bellwether for other Democrats when the chamber is expected to consider a market structure bill. In June, Slotkin voted yay on the payments stablecoin GENIUS bill, one of the most significant crypto-related bills to come out of the current session of Congress.
Last week, a group of 12 Democrats signaled that they would work with Republicans on market structure, provided they supported “preventing corruption and abuse” and other provisions in any potential bill. Warren said in August that she supported regulation of digital assets, but not in any legislation “written by the crypto industry.” She also voted nay on the GENIUS Act.
In a statement to Cointelegraph, a White House official said the Warren and Slotkin letter was “based on another fake news NYT story that seeks to falsely connect World Liberty’s private investments and the administration’s chip policy,” and any conflicts of interest with Sacks and Witkoff “don’t exist.”
Crypto bill already delayed after congressional recess
Though a market structure bill in the US House of Representatives initially faced some hurdles over Republicans’ concerns with central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), the legislation moved through the chamber in July, along with the GENIUS Act and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance Act. The House market structure bill, called the CLARITY Act, passed with bipartisan support, with 78 Democrats voting yay.
Since moving to the Senate, however, the legislation has faced similar challenges. Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis, a member of the banking committee and one of the market structure bill’s key proponents, said in August that Republicans’ goal was to have the bill out of committee by the end of the month. However, no scheduled vote appeared on the banking committee’s calendar at the time of publication.
A person familiar with the matter told Cointelegraph that Republicans were engaging with Democrats over the Senate bill, titled the Responsible Financial Innovation Act, and were still hoping to get the legislation signed into law by 2026.
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