“I don’t need anybody’s money.”

As you may recall, that’s what Donald Trump said when he announced his presidential campaign on June 16, 2015. (Yes, we are now a decade into this national nightmare.) He reiterated the idea — that he was already so rich that we would be impervious to financial temptations as president — over and over again.

It was clearly never true. And Trump has debased the office of the president to enrich himself and his family to a degree so unprecedented and extreme that it might seem almost comical if it weren’t so nakedly corrupt.

• Among the most flagrant grifts are the “meme coins” launched earlier this year by both Trump and his wife, Melania.

• For background, “meme coins” are a type of cryptocurrency (digital-only money not backed by any government or bank) that have little to no intrinsic value aside from people simply being willing, or being hoodwinked, into spending money on them. The name originated in connection with internet memes (moderately humorous graphics that go viral online).

• The Trump family has reportedly made at least $320 million from fees they “earn” when people trade their various cryptocurrencies.

• Indeed, just this week, Trump doubled down on his solicitation for his “meme coin” venture (scam might be a better word), having previously offered tickets to a gala at one of his golf resorts to the 220 biggest “investors.”

• Federal law forbids presidents from soliciting gifts. And, since issuing a “meme coin” is not a presidential act, Trump isn’t even covered by the absurd immunity provision the Supreme Court fashioned out of thin air last year.

• Public Citizen has called for an investigation into Trump’s seemingly obvious violation of federal law barring the president from soliciting gifts.

• We have also highlighted the egregious risk inherent in the fact that since Trump’s “meme coins” can be purchased anonymously, unknown actors — including potentially foreign governments — could, in essence, stuff cash into the president’s pockets.

Here’s what one of us (Lisa) told the national media:

“As is often the case with this administration, the corruption and scandal is happening out in the open, right in front of our eyes. The question now is what are our elected leaders going to do to stop it? Passing legislation to fight this corruption is a great place to start.”

Tell Congress:

Donald Trump is abusing the office of the president to enrich himself and his family, including via assorted crypto ventures and/or scams. Congress must pass legislation to clearly and definitively prohibit presidents, vice presidents, Cabinet secretaries, members of Congress, and the immediate family members of those people from issuing so-called digital assets such as “meme coins.”

Click to add your name now.

Thanks for taking action.

For progress,

- Lisa Gilbert & Robert Weissman, Co-Presidents of Public Citizen
 
 
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