U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies earlier than a House Monetary Companies Committee listening to in regards to the annual report of the Monetary Stability Oversight Council, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 4, 2026.
Kylie Cooper | Reuters
Dozens of House Democrats wrote to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday calling for an investigation into potential conflicts of curiosity and nationwide safety considerations associated to World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s cryptocurrency venture.
The letter, led by Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y. and 40 different lawmakers, landed after Bessent testified at a contentious House Financial Services Committee hearing earlier this month. Meeks on the listening to referred to as Bessent a “flunky” of President Donald Trump and raised questions on a $500 million stake that Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan — a royal from the United Arab Emirates also referred to as the “spy sheikh” — purchased in World Liberty Monetary final 12 months.
“The Trump family’s $500 million deal related to the Emirati royal family is just not solely a matter of nationwide monetary instability, but it surely additionally carries critical nationwide safety implications,” Meeks stated in a press release accompanying the letter. “Belief that the file will mirror whether or not Secretary Bessent chooses to reply to the American individuals, or his mob boss.”
The request for a probe was made as World Liberty Monetary is searching for a national bank charter, a distinction reviewed and issued by the Workplace of the Comptroller of the Foreign money, an impartial arm of the Treasury Division that regulates banks.
World Liberty Monetary held a day-long discussion board Wednesday at Mar-a-Lago the place presidential sons Don Jr. and Eric Trump touted the family’s stablecoin and referred to as conventional banking a “Ponzi scheme.”
Meeks on the listening to requested Bessent to decide to pause any pending purposes from World Liberty Monetary earlier than the OCC and to finish an investigation into the “conflicts of curiosity and overseas affect.”
“The OCC is an impartial entity,” Bessent stated then, over the shouts of Meeks, with out addressing the subject additional.
President Donald Trump and his particular envoy, Steve Witkoff, are co-founders emeritus of the corporate, which is run by members of the Trump and Witkoff households.
“That is not only a debate about crypto chartering principle. It’s about overseas possession, nationwide safety, regulatory integrity, and whether or not our bank-chartering course of is resilient to political and geopolitical stress,” the lawmakers wrote Thursday.
Within the letter, Democratic members requested for data on the safeguards in place to make sure that “overseas authorities officers, sovereign proxies, or politically related traders can not use the bank-chartering course of to achieve leverage over the U.S. monetary system or entry delicate monetary or technological infrastructure.”
It additionally asks what position the White House, Workplace and Administration and Funds and Treasury have in “reviewing, approving, or in any other case influencing nationwide financial institution or belief chartering selections made by the” OCC. It lawmakers requested a response from Treasury by Feb. 26.
A Treasury Division spokesperson didn’t instantly reply to an e mail searching for remark.
“The credibility of America’s banking regulatory framework, and of the establishments charged with defending it, is determined by transparency, independence, and a demonstrated willingness to withstand undue affect,” the lawmakers wrote. “Our constituents want confidence that our banking system is ruled by legislation, not proximity to energy; by prudential judgment, not political comfort.”
