House Democrats Demand SARs on Trump-Linked Fundraising, Crypto Ventures

On May 14, 2025, top-ranking House Democrats, including Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, Rep. Joe Morelle, and Rep. Jamie Raskin, sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The letter demanded that the Treasury Department make available all suspicious activity reports (SARs) related to several political fundraising platforms and cryptocurrency ventures linked to Donald Trump. The request was prompted by concerns over potential fraud, bribery, campaign finance violations, and predatory practices targeting vulnerable Americans.

The Democrats' inquiry focuses on several key areas. First, they are seeking SARs related to the online fundraising platform WinRed, which has faced investigations for predatory and fraudulent conduct. This includes the use of prechecked boxes to automatically enroll donors in recurring contribution programs without their knowledge or consent, which has reportedly victimized hundreds of elderly Americans and those with cognitive impairments.

Second, the Democrats are interested in SARs related to Elon Musk’s America PAC, which reportedly spent $250 million to help elect Donald Trump. The PAC's financial support appears to have secured President Trump’s favor for Musk’s business activities, including a $1 million nationwide ad campaign touting President Trump’s first few weeks in office.

Additionally, the Democrats are seeking SARs related to two scam PACs operating under the names “Patriots for American Leadership” and “Campaign for a Conservative Majority.” These PACs raised millions of dollars through robocalls that used clips of Donald Trump’s voice to mislead listeners into believing that the PACs were supporting his reelection efforts. The funds raised were allegedly used to enrich the PAC operators and continue their scam operations.

The most significant part of the inquiry involves the Trump family’s recently launched crypto venture, World Liberty Financial (WLF), and Trump-branded meme coins. WLF sells a non-transferable governance token that confers no ownership rights and provides no mechanism to accrue value. A leading expert on presidential ethics noted that this venture may be one of Trump’s most profound conflicts of interest, particularly because the Trump Administration has adopted a strident agenda of promoting cryptocurrency and eliminating regulatory guardrails on the crypto industry.

WLF reportedly fell dramatically short of its initial fundraising goal but was saved by a $30 million investment from Justin Sun, a Chinese-born entrepreneur then under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for alleged securities fraud related to several of his companies. In January, Mr. Sun bought $45 million of WLF’s token, bringing his total investment in the venture to $75 million. Shortly thereafter, the SEC asked the court to pause its enforcement action against Mr. Sun. In March, WLF announced that it would launch USD1, a stablecoin. A fund backed by an Abu Dhabi investment firm announced earlier this month it would use USD1 to close a $2 billion investment in the Binance crypto exchange, thereby further enriching WLF.

On the Friday before his inauguration, then President-elect Trump launched the $TRUMP memecoin, described as a type of joke cryptocurrency that typically has no purpose beyond financial speculation. Entities tied to Mr. Trump together own 80% of the entire supply of $TRUMP coins—1 billion coins in total—and thus stand to reap the lion’s share of any profits from the venture. Trump-related entities reportedly have already made as much as $100 million on trading fees alone. On February 27, 2025, the SEC announced its determination that meme coins do not constitute securities under the federal securities laws, and therefore are not subject to regulation by the SEC. Because the identities of the coin purchasers are not publicly disclosed, there is no way to tell who is buying the coin, potentially allowing bad actors, including authoritarian governments, to enrich the Trump family and curry favor with Trump.

The Democrats' request for SARs is part of a broader effort to determine whether legislation is necessary to prevent violations of campaign finance, consumer protection, bribery, securities fraud, and other anti-corruption laws in connection with fundraising by candidates for federal office and federal officeholders. The goal is to guard against deceptive and predatory campaign fundraising practices, illicit foreign influence over federal officials, and other financial misconduct connected to prospective or current federal officials.