House Democrats Plan Trump Crypto Probes After Winning Majority

Once Democrats assume the House majority in January, they intend to open inquiries into the crypto business interests of President Donald Trump’s family, prioritizing World Liberty Financial, that venture’s Emirati backer and the pardon granted to Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.

Rep. Robert Garcia of California, set to lead the House Oversight Committee, took an Associated Press call at 3:18 a.m. and delivered a two-word reply: “Lawyer up.” His office says he plans to go after what it labels the “Trump Crime Family,” as well as corporate corruption, abuses in immigration enforcement and the Epstein files.

In remarks to Punchbowl News, Garcia said the panel would scrutinize the family’s crypto deals, Donald Trump Jr.’s business dealings and relatives such as Jared Kushner “sitting on boards and getting contracts.”

Subpoena power marks the shift from the previous two years. In the minority, Democrats have sent letters, asked the Treasury for investigations and staged shadow hearings; with the majority, they can force the administration and private firms to produce documents and testimony without needing the president’s permission.

In September, Reuters reported that the probes might begin in February at the earliest and would initially focus on corporate contributors to the White House ballroom and companies that struck deals with Trump relatives.

First up is likely World Liberty Financial, the DeFi and stablecoin venture started by the Trump family in September 2024. Democratic scrutiny has centered on a $500 million investment from Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE national security adviser, whose vehicle acquired a reported 49% stake just ahead of the January 2025 inauguration.

That ownership position matters because World Liberty is pursuing a federal trust bank charter. The charter would cover its USD1 stablecoin. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted conditional approval on Aug. 14, and final sign-off remains pending. Together, Tahnoon’s group and an entity tied to Trump hold about 87% of the bank’s holding company, The Wall Street Journal reports.

In February, House Democrats called on Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to investigate the deal and requested suspicious activity reports tied to the family’s ventures, but those requests had no legal force. Earlier this year, Senate Democrats on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, led by Richard Blumenthal, opened their own inquiry into the TRUMP token and World Liberty.

Next on the list is the October 2025 pardon of Zhao. His exchange helped launch USD1 and was hacked for $6.34 billion last week. Zhao maintains he holds no business ties to the Trump family and never discussed clemency with them. Trump’s 2025 financial disclosure showed more than $1 billion in crypto-related income, including about $635 million in TRUMP memecoin royalties; Reuters put the family’s crypto earnings at $2.3 billion or more.

What the Trump probes can and cannot do

These investigations won’t produce legislation. Trump has warned he could turn into “Mr. Veto,” and Democrats do not hold the two-thirds majority in either chamber needed to override him. Ahead of the vote, the White House dismissed the plans; spokeswoman Lauren Bis called them a “decade long witch hunt.”

The administration is expected by Democrats to invoke executive privilege and drag out requests, the same way it did during Trump’s first term, so the party intends to subpoena private entities linked to the family instead.

For the crypto industry, the consequences are political, not statutory. Jaret Seiberg of TD Cowen said in a Wednesday note that the investigations “may make it impossible to advance a version of Clarity that the crypto sector could back,” and Bloomberg Intelligence has singled out crypto, defense and technology as the sectors most at risk from the probes.