Non-profit organization Public Citizen has urged the US Office of Government Ethics (OGE) and Department Of Justice (DOJ) to investigate the TRUMP memecoin and the potential violation of federal law barring gift solicitation by US President Donald Trump.
DOJ Asked To Investigate TRUMP Memecoin
On Wednesday, Public Citizen, a non-profit consumer advocacy organization, filed a complaint with the OGE and DOJ asking the agencies to investigate whether US President Donald Trump might have violated federal law by endorsing the token.
The complaint states that federal law strictly regulates payments to government officials, including gifts. Under this law, the US president may receive gifts but can’t “solicit” them. The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) lists multiple exemptions from this prohibition, but none include soliciting purchases for personal gain.
According to Public Citizen, Trump’s promotion of the TRUMP memecoin seemingly violates the prohibition. The document notes that the US president promoted his official token before and after officially entering the White House.
On January 17, Trump announced the official TRUMP memecoin on social media, including X and Truth Social. His only X post about the token was seemingly reposted on Inauguration Day and posted on Truth Social on January 21. The posts read:
My NEW Official Trump Meme is HERE! It’s time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING! Join my very special Trump Community. GET YOUR $TRUMP NOW. Go to http://gettrumpmemes.com — Have Fun!
The complaint highlights that the US president is the principal owner of the official memecoin, as 80% of the supply is owned by CIC Digital LLC. This company is “an affiliate of the Trump Organization,” Public Citizen argues, adding that it is “100% owned by the Donald J Trump Revocable Trust.”
Donald Trump is the “sole beneficiary” of the revocable trust. Under the question on the website: “Is this an official Trump product?” the website answers: “Yes, this is the only Official Trump Meme, by President Donald J. Trump.
The non-profit organization considers that since President Trump is not soliciting money in exchange for an investment or tangible product but “soliciting money in exchange for nothing,” he is potentially “asking for a gift that will benefit him personally.”
Are Politician Tokens A National Security Risk?
The complaint also brings another key issue: the potential participation of foreign states. Public Citizen notes it is difficult to know if foreign state actors are “gifting the president” by purchasing the memecoin, which presents a national security issue.
Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin recently spoke about this issue in an X post. Buterin considers that politician tokens could represent a “risk to democracy” as they could be turned into “vehicles for unlimited political bribery, including from foreign nation-states.”
He explained that these tokens can be held in private and offer the possibility of denial of intention, making them the “perfect” bribery medium. The non-profit organization stated that “the dangers inherent in the Trump meme portend ominously.”
It concludes that if the president can enrich himself this way, other politicians could follow his steps, making the prohibition on solicitation and receipt of gifts by officials other than the president “virtually meaningless.”
A recent report from Reuters revealed that entities behind Trump’s memecoin accumulated around $100 million in trading fees in less than two weeks.
Analysis from three crypto data firms, including Merkle Science and Chainalysis, estimated that the TRUMP token generated between $86 million and $100 million in fees by January 30, exceeding the figures previously reported.
Nonetheless, the report noted it is unclear if the US president has personally received any portion of the fees or the ownership of the other entities behind the memecoin.
