US House members call for investigation into Trump’s memecoin dinner
Members of the US House of Representatives called for the Justice Department to investigate Donald Trump’s May 22 dinner for his top memecoin investors, citing concerns about “foreign influence over US policy decisions” and “potential corruption and emoluments clause violations.”
In a May 22 letter to the Justice Department, 35 House members asked the public integrity section acting chief, Edward Sullivan, to launch an inquiry over the memecoin dinner to determine whether it violated the federal bribery statute or the foreign emoluments clause of the US Constitution.
Under the emoluments clause, a US president is barred from accepting any gift from a foreign state without the approval of Congress. Bloomberg reported that a majority of the attendees at the memecoin dinner were likely foreign nationals based on their connections to crypto exchanges.
“US law prohibits foreign persons from contributing to US political campaigns,” said the letter. “However, the $TRUMP memecoin, including the promotion of a dinner promising exclusive access to the President, opens the door for foreign governments to buy influence with the President, all without disclosing their identities.”
The call for an investigation and a press conference asking Trump to “release the guest list” for the dinner both occurred hours before the event, which was held at the Trump National Golf Club outside Washington, DC. A group of protesters, joined by Senator Jeff Merkley, gathered outside the venue with signs stating “illegal crypto party” and “democracy is not for sale.”
Related: Who attended Trump’s controversial memecoin dinner?
Though some of the dinner attendees covered their faces with masks to conceal their identities, protesters and members of the media confirmed that Tron founder Justin Sun appeared at the event, as well as other Trump supporters who posted to social media. The complete list of attendees was not available at the time of publication.
The memecoin dinner still has the potential to affect pending legislation in Congress
In addition to the call for a DOJ investigation, Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate proposed legislation to address what they called “Trump’s crypto corruption” as Congress considered a bill to regulate stablecoins and a market structure bill.
Several Senate Democrats who initially voted against advancing the stablecoin bill, called the GENIUS Act, later sided with Republicans to set up a debate in the chamber.
Representative Maxine Waters introduced a bill to limit the access of any US president, vice president, members of Congress and their families to cryptocurrencies. Members of the Senate will also propose an amendment to the GENIUS Act to address Trump’s connection to World Liberty Financial, a crypto platform backed by the president’s family that issued its USD1 stablecoin.
Magazine: AI cures blindness, ‘good’ propaganda bots, OpenAI doomsday bunker: AI Eye
Coinbase says it helped the US Secret Service seize $225 million in crypto allegedly stolen by scammers, the largest crypto seizure in the agency’s history.
Only five US senators out of the 11 typically on the digital assets subcommittee were available to ask questions about a potential market structure bill.
The UK will buy at least 12 F-35 stealth jets that can carry nuclear warheads in the most significant strengthening of its nuclear capability in a generation, the government has said.
Today, Sir Keir Starmer will tell a summit of NATO allies in The Hague that the new squadron will join an alliance mission that can be armed with US nuclear weapons.
The dramatic move will doubtless draw condemnation and concern from Russia and China.
But it comes at a time of growing global insecurity – and as the prime minister and his European and Canadian counterparts scramble to convince Donald Trump they are serious about bolstering their ability to defend Europe, instead of overly relying on the United States.
The US president, a long-standing NATO sceptic, raised questions about whether he would uphold the alliance’s founding Article 5 principle – that an attack on one is an attack on all – before he even arrived in the Dutch city last night.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘There’s numerous definitions of Article 5’
An urgent need to keep Mr Trump on side has prompted NATO allies to agree to increase spending on defence and national resilience to a new target of 5% of GDP by 2035.
As part of this push to rearm, Sir Keir will give the Royal Air Force the ability to carry airborne nuclear warheads for the first time since the 1990s.
“In an era of radical uncertainty we can no longer take peace for granted,” he said.
“These F-35 dual capable aircraft will herald a new era for our world-leading Royal Air Force and deter hostile threats that threaten the UK and our allies.
“The UK’s commitment to NATO is unquestionable, as is the alliance’s contribution to keeping the UK safe and secure, but we must all step up to protect the Euro-Atlantic area for generations to come.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
What is NATO’s 5% defence spending goal?
It was not immediately clear when the F-35 jets would be bought or how much they will cost, but the new squadron will be part of a NATO-led nuclear deterrence mission.
That is in contrast to the UK’s national nuclear deterrence, based on a fleet of four nuclear-armed submarines, though they too are used to defend the whole of the alliance.
Mark Rutte, the head of NATO, applauded the plan – saying: “The UK has declared its nuclear deterrent to NATO for many decades, and I strongly welcome today’s announcement that the UK will now also join NATO’s nuclear mission and procure the F-35A.
“This is yet another robust British contribution to NATO.”
Sir Keir watches a demonstration by troops as he visits the Netherlands marines training base. Pic: AP
Aircraft operated by a small number of NATO countries, including Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, are cleared to carry US-provided nuclear weapons in a war.
The RAF and the Royal Navy already operate F-35B jets that can fly off Britain’s two aircraft carriers, but they are not equipped to drop nuclear warheads.
The new planes will be the F-35A variant, operated by the air force, that take off from land but can fly further and be armed with nuclear or conventional weapons.
The government said they would all be based together at RAF Marham in Norfolk.
The government has long planned to purchase a total of 138 F-35 aircraft, but has so far only acquired around three dozen – seven years since the first jets entered service.
The decision to purchase 12 of the A-variant does not mean extra aircraft.
It just means a diversification in the fleet – something the RAF has long been pushing for – though it’s a decision some in the Royal Navy have long pushed back against, believing it would reduce even further the number of the B-version that operate from their carriers.
Read more:
PM warns of ‘era of radical uncertainty’
Podcast – What is NATO without America?
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Is the UK preparing for war?
The government described the plan to purchase nuclear-capable aircraft as the “biggest strengthening of the UK’s nuclear posture in a generation”.
Defence Secretary John Healey said a major defence review published earlier in the month highlighted new nuclear risks.
“It recommended a new UK role in our collective defence and deterrence through a NATO-first approach,” he said.
However, the public version of the Strategic Defence Review stopped short of making any specific recommendation.
It merely said “the UK must explore how to support the US and its NATO allies in strengthening extended deterrence across the Euro-Atlantic”.
The F-35 aircraft is made by the US defence giant Lockheed Martin, but the British defence company BAE Systems is also a key contributor.
The order will support 20,000 jobs in the F-35 programme in the UK.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike