Trump's Meme Cryptocurrency Coin Launch May Have Violated Hatch Act, New Bill Seeks to Close the Loophole

President Donald Trump made tens of billions on paper by using his national profile to push meme cryptocurrency. One Democratic congressman wants to make sure other politicians can't do the same.

Donald Trump has made tens of billions of dollars on paper by using his national profile to push meme cryptocurrency. One Democratic congressman wants to make sure other politicians can’t do the same.

California Rep. Sam Liccardo on Thursday introduced a bill that would bar Trump and other public officials from promoting stocks and cryptocurrency endeavors from which they stand to financially benefit. The legislation would open the door to civil and criminal action against those seeking to personally enrich themselves while holding public office.

It’s a longshot for now, given Republican control over Congress and the White House. But the freshman congressman — a former San Jose mayor — said it’s important for the future.

“I think everyone scratched their head when President Trump started this pump and dump scheme, asking the question, ‘Why isn’t that prohibited?'” Liccardo said. “So let’s make sure, at the very least, it doesn’t happen again.”

Less than three days before Trump took the oath of office for the second time, he put out a call to supporters on social media: “GET YOUR $TRUMP NOW.” In the hours that followed, Trump’s meme cryptocurrency coin exploded in value — before cratering and causing investors to collectively lose over $2 billion in value.

A day after the Trump Organization launched the Trump coin, it issued a Melania meme coin, which similarly saw its valuation tank in recent weeks.

Trump and those who facilitated the debut of his meme coin generated nearly $100 million in trading fees alone, Reuters first reported, and the president has continued to promote the cryptocurrency since becoming a public official again.

Liccardo likened Trump’s meme coin to similar endeavors from global leaders like the Central African Republic’s meme coins and Argentine President Javier Milei’s promotion of a now-defunct coin that has landed him at the center of a corruption probe.

“What all these have in common is that they open public officials to the influence of others who are capable of buying millions, or in this case, hundreds of millions of dollars of financial assets to influence the outcome of decisions,” Liccardo said. “And some of those individuals, they live offshore and have very strong interests in conflict with the interests of our country.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Liccardo’s Modern Emoluments and Malfeasance Enforcement, or MEME, Act has over a dozen Democratic co-sponsors and would disallow the president, senior White House officials and members of Congress — including their spouses and children — from issuing or endorsing any financial asset.

While laws like the Hatch Act exist to bar officials from endorsing products or services while serving the public, such regulations are often toothless.

In 2020, while serving as a senior adviser to her father, Ivanka Trump endorsed a can of Goya beans in an apparent violation of the Hatch Act. The White House declined to discipline Ivanka Trump, and the next day, her father posed for a photo with Goya products spread across his desk in the Oval Office.

“Regardless of whether there is any untoward influence or not, this is the use of a public office for personal financial gain, and public office doesn’t belong to the office holder,” Liccardo said. “It belongs to the American people. So this is an abuse of power, regardless of whether there’s corruption or not.”

Liccardo’s bill avoids simply relying on the Department of Justice to intervene should the president or other officials violate the proposed regulations, paving the way for civil complaints from those who may have been harmed by purchasing such assets.

The bill faces incredibly long odds in a Republican-controlled Congress that has shown little appetite for reining in executive authority.

Last year, Oversight Chair James Comer and then-Rep. Katie Porter pushed bipartisan legislation to ratchet up presidential transparency by mandating the disclosure of their personal tax returns and money received overseas. Comer promptly stopped pushing his own legislation after Trump won in November.

Republican leadership in Congress has signaled interest, but not urgency, in tackling cryptocurrency legislation, and several GOP lawmakers — who themselves trade various meme coins — balked at the by the idea of strictly regulating the industry.

“I don’

t expect this to get out of committee next week,” Liccardo said. “On the other hand … as (Trump) continues his failing and flailing in running this government, I would expect his poll ratings to continue to drop as they have over the last couple weeks, and eventually as the poll ratings continue to dive, more and more wobbly-kneed Republicans may get a dose of courage to decide it’s time to make corruption criminal again.”

This story was produced as part of a partnership between NOTUS — a publication from the nonprofit, nonpartisan Allbritton Journalism Institute — and NEWSWELL, home of Times of San Diego, Santa Barbara News