U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson did not respond to corruption allegations surrounding a dinner hosted by Trump for top holders of his Memecoin and deliberately avoided questions about whether the attendee list should be made public based on political transparency principles.
Johnson stated in an interview with CNN host Jake Tapper on May 25 that he was unaware of the Memecoin dinner hosted by Trump on May 22 and chose not to comment on the event, which has been called for investigation by 35 House Democratic members.
"We don't know who attended the dinner, and the attendee list has not been released. We also don't know how much funding came from abroad," Tapper questioned Johnson. "I can hardly imagine that if a Democratic president did the same thing, you wouldn't express outrage?"
"Listen, I had no knowledge of this dinner," Johnson responded, claiming he was "quite busy last week" and focused on passing a $1.6 trillion federal budget funding bill. "I won't comment on something I haven't even heard of. I don't know who the attendees are, nor do I understand the purpose of the event."
Johnson then claimed that Trump is "the most transparent president in history" and that "there's nothing to hide."
CNN's Jake Tapper (left) speaks with House Speaker Mike Johnson (right). Source: CNN
Democrats are calling for the full list of attendees at Trump's cryptocurrency dinner to be made public, as they suspect Trump may have violated federal bribery laws or the foreign emoluments clause in the Constitution by accepting foreign investments.
According to the emoluments clause, the U.S. president cannot accept any gifts from foreign entities without congressional approval.
Bloomberg reported on May 7 that most attendees of the Memecoin dinner were likely foreign nationals.
Trump invited the top 220 holders of the Official Trump (TRUMP) Memecoin to the event held at the Trump National Golf Club in Virginia.
The most notable attendee was Sun Yuchen, CEO of Tron and the largest holder of TRUMP tokens, who is also a major supporter of the Trump family's cryptocurrency platform, World Liberty Financial.
Jian Xia, CEO of the Cayman Islands cryptocurrency exchange BitMart, posted photos from the event on social media platform X, while Australian cryptocurrency entrepreneur Kain Warwick revealed to The New York Times on May 12 that he qualified to attend the event by purchasing enough TRUMP tokens to rank in the top 25 investors.
At another press conference on May 22, several Democrats called for the full attendee list of Trump's Memecoin dinner to be made public.
One of the speakers was Senator Elizabeth Warren, a staunch cryptocurrency critic, who described Trump's Memecoin dinner as a "corruption fest."
Several House Democrats, led by Maxine Waters, introduced the "Stop Trump from Participating in Cryptocurrency Act" on May 22, aimed at preventing Trump and his family from profiting from cryptocurrency during his tenure.
Waters stated in a release that Trump is "shamelessly promoting and profiting from" a series of cryptocurrency projects using "presidential power."
Waters pointed to the TRUMP Memecoin, claiming it has increased Trump's net worth by over $350 million, as well as his involvement with World Liberty Financial and the platform's stablecoin USD1.
Another 14 U.S. lawmakers support the bill, including Nydia Velázquez, Brad Sherman, and Gregory Meeks.
Related: Investment firm Strategy CEO Michael Saylor hints at buying Bitcoin (BTC) on dips.
Original article: “Despite Calls for Investigation, U.S. Political Leaders Ignore Trump Cryptocurrency Dinner Controversy”
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