US Political Corruption Rears Its Ugly Head, Slaps Americans Straight Across The Face: Crypto Edition

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Key takeaways

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's communications director bought Bitcoin and Ether before favorable crypto regulation was unveiled.
Gillibrand's son secured thirty million dollars for a startup backed by a major crypto donor.
A gala hosted by Donald Trump requires holding the TRUMP meme coin, raising concerns over foreign influence.

Political privilege and digital assets

Two reports Wednesday perfectly captured the attitude of America’s politicians and the corrupt oligarchs they loyally serve: blasé detachment from the needs of ordinary citizens and an unshakeable confidence that they can do no wrong.

While Americans navigate record-high diesel prices and supermarket sticker shock, Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is quite busy in the Swamp doing the crypto lobby’s sordid business while turning a blind eye to staffers seeking to make a profit from their proximity to the esteemed senator from New York.

New York Magazine published a long profile of Gillibrand, a top pro-crypto senator influencing the regulation of cryptocurrency and digital assets. She has long partnered with Republicans on crypto-friendly legislation and was a lead sponsor of the bipartisan GENIUS Act. The article featured some buried, sleazy details, flagged by Responsible Statecraft’s Nick Cleveland-Stout.

Staff trades and family funding

According to NYMag, just one week before Gillibrand unveiled legislation that would place Bitcoin and Ether under more favorable regulation from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, her communications director purchased up to $30,000 worth of those same two cryptocurrencies.

Further, Gillibrand’s chief of staff tried to use her influential position as the top fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to lobby fellow Democratic aides to support her crypto-friendly legislation, NYMag reported.

Finally, her 22-year-old son, Theodore, secured $30 million in funding for a startup venture backed by prominent crypto investors, including a major donor to Gillibrand, according to NYMag. Although Theodore’s venture first made headlines in June, it appears that the investment from a Gillibrand donor was not previously reported.

When NYMag asked about her staffers trading crypto, a snooty Gillibrand had this to say: “I could care less what they do with their money. This is not a nanny state.”

Meme coin access and foreign influence

In other crypto/corruption news, CBS reported Wednesday on President Donald Trump’s upcoming meme coin gala. To get a coveted seat at the gala, which will be hosted at Trump National Golf Club in November, you have to be among the 185 largest holders of the scammy $TRUMP meme coin. According to the outlet, more than half of the 100 publicly listed crypto wallets have used crypto exchanges that U.S. citizens cannot access, meaning there is a decent chance they are foreigners.

“Foreign actors used to need a back door to try to influence a president,” Zach Everson, a researcher for the progressive group Public Citizen, told CBS. “Trump is holding the front door open and inviting them in for a steak dinner.”

Is he wrong? Is Trump not basically selling access using a fake meme coin?

We are witnessing America’s political class actively looting the country — all while countless Americans languish. In a saner world, there would be serious and immediate consequences for this kind of reprehensible behavior. But we don’t live in a sane world. We live in a mad world, where insider trading is rampant, a sitting president nakedly grifts by selling foreigners access to his swanky gala, and diesel costs $6 per gallon.

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