Crypto Reporter
Shalini Nagarajan
Crypto Reporter
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A US House investigation has turned its focus to World Liberty Financial, a Trump-linked crypto venture.
The move follows a recent Wall Street Journal report of a $500M UAE-linked stake agreed shortly before President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California and the ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, on Wednesday sent a letter to World Liberty co-founder Zach Witkoff seeking ownership records, payment details and internal communications tied to the reported deal and related transactions.
Khanna wrote that the Journal reported “lieutenants to an Abu Dhabi royal secretly signed a deal with the Trump Family to purchase a 49% stake in their fledgling cryptocurrency venture [World Liberty Financial] for half a billion dollars” shortly before Trump took office.
He argued the reported investment raises questions about conflicts of interest, national security and whether US technology policy shifted in ways that benefited foreign capital tied to strategic priorities.
Meanwhile, Trump has said he had no knowledge of the deal. Speaking to reporters on Monday, he said he was not aware of the transaction and noted that his sons and other family members manage the business and receive investments from various parties.
Crypto Venture Deal Draws Scurinty Over AI And National Security Policy Intersection
The letter also linked the reported stake to US export controls on advanced AI chips and concerns about diversion to China through third countries.
Khanna said the Journal report suggested the UAE-linked investment “may have resulted in significant changes to U.S. Government policies designed to prevent the diversion of advanced artificial intelligence chips and related computing capabilities to the People’s Republic of China.”
According to the Journal account cited in the letter, the agreement was signed by Eric Trump days before the inauguration.
The investor group was described as linked to Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE national security adviser. Two senior figures connected to his network later joined World Liberty’s board.
USD1 Stablecoin Use Raises Questions Over Influence And Profits
Khanna’s letter pointed to another UAE-linked deal involving World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin, which he said was used to facilitate a $2B investment into Binance by MGX, an entity tied to Sheikh Tahnoon. He wrote that this use “helped catapult USD1 into one of the world’s largest stablecoins”, which could have increased fees and revenues for the project and its shareholders.
The lawmaker also connected the Binance investment to later policy developments, including chip export decisions and a presidential pardon for Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.
He cited a former pardon attorney who said, “The influence that money played in securing this pardon is unprecedented. The self-dealing aspect of the pardon in terms of the benefit that it conferred on President Trump, and his family, and people in his inner circle is also unprecedented.”
Khanna framed the overall picture as more than political optics. “Taken together, these arrangements are not just a scandal, but may even represent a violation of multiple laws and the United States Constitution,” he wrote, citing conflict-of-interest rules and the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause.
Khanna Warns Of National Security Stakes In WLFI Case
He asked World Liberty to answer detailed questions and produce documents by March 1, 2026, including agreements tied to the reported 49% stake, payment flows, communications with UAE-linked representatives, board appointments, due diligence and records tied to the USD1 stablecoin’s role in the Binance transaction.
Khanna also pressed for details on any discussions around export controls, US policy toward the UAE and strategic competition with China, as well as communications related to President Trump’s decision to pardon Zhao.
The probe lands at a moment when stablecoins sit closer to the center of market structure debates, and when politically connected crypto ventures face sharper questions about ownership, governance and access.
Khanna closed his letter with a warning about the stakes, writing, “Congress will not be supine amid this scandal and its unmistakable implications on our national security.”
