Two U.S. senators are pressing the Treasury Department to investigate a reported foreign investment in a crypto venture linked to the Trump family, raising concerns about national security, foreign influence and access to sensitive financial data.
On Friday letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and New Jersey Senator Andy Kim asked the government to determine whether the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) should investigate the transaction in which a United Arab Emirates-backed investment vehicle agreed to purchase a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial (WLFI) for approximately $500 million.
Lawmakers wrote that the deal was scheduled to take place days before Donald Trump’s inauguration and would make a foreign fund the company’s largest shareholder and the only publicly known outside investor. They asked Bessent, who chairs CFIUS, to confirm whether the committee had been notified and, if necessary, conduct a “comprehensive, thorough and impartial investigation.”
The investment was reportedly supported by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates’ national security adviser. The letter shows that the agreement allegedly allocated approximately $187 million to entities linked to the Trump family and gave two board seats to executives linked to G42, a technology company that was previously investigated by US intelligence agencies over concerns about ties to China.
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Participating in the United Arab Emirates may reveal Americans’ financial and personal information
Warren and Kim argued that the structure of the deal could allow a foreign government to gain influence over a U.S. company that processes financial and personal data. They noted that the company’s privacy disclosures indicate that it collects data including wallet addresses, IP addresses, device identifiers and approximate location data, as well as certain identity data through service providers.
CFIUS’s task is to review foreign investments that could provide access to sensitive technology or personal data of US citizens. Lawmakers asked for responses by March 5.
Last year, Senators Warren and Jack Reed also called on US authorities to investigate alleged links between World Liberty Financial’s token sales and sanctioned foreign entities. In a November letter to the Department of Justice and Treasury, they cited claims that WLFI governance tokens had been purchased by blockchain addresses linked to North Korea’s Lazarus group, as well as entities linked to Russia and Iran.
Related: Trump Family WLFI Plans Foreign Exchange and Remittance Platform: Report
Trump claims his sons are handling WLFI investments
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump said he was unaware of reported multi-million-dollar investments linked to a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family and entities linked to crypto platform World Liberty Financial.
In a conversation with reporters, Trump said he had no direct role in concluding the deal and assured that his family was handling the matter. “My sons deal with it, my family deals with it,” Trump added. “I think they’re getting investments from different people.”
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