The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 25, 2025

President Donald Trump launched a cryptocurrency “meme coin” with his likeness on January 17th, just before inauguration day.  April 21st, with its value plummeting, the company offered top buyers of the coin a dinner with Trump and a personal tour of the White House.  That likely violates the Emoluments Clause.

The website for the meme coin loudly promotes a dinner with Trump at his Washington golf club for the top 220 owners of the coin, and for the top 25 owners, an “exclusive reception” and a “special VIP tour.”  But as of April 24th, any reference to touring White House was scrubbed from the site.  

With its value having fallen from $74.00 to a low of $7.66 on April 17, the price jumped after the announcement to $14.54 on April 23rd.  But it’s not the price of the coin that should worry Americans, but that corporations, special interests or foreign governments could exploit the offer as an opportunity to channel money to the notoriously transactional Trump in exchange for access and favors.

Jordan Libowitz of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington told  Mother Jones magazine, “This is about as unethical as you can get – essentially selling off access to the president.” 

We have a pre-scrubbing graphic,  and more on the Emoluments Clause, at  AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

April 23 – GetTrumpMemes.com via WaybackMachine.com – “Have Dinner With President Trump”

April 24 – GetTrumpMemes.com – “Have Dinner with President Trump” – Reference to White House Tour Scrubbed

American Constitution Society – (2019)  Profiting off the Presidency: Trump’s Violations of the Emoluments Clauses
Brennan Center for Justice – (2019)  How Will the Courts Handle the Trump Emoluments Cases?
American Democracy Minute – (2024) The Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause was Intended to Stop Bribery and Corruption.  Recently, Not So Much
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) – (2024)  The intensifying threat of Donald Trump’s emoluments
Mother Jones – Trump Crypto Coin Buyers Offered VIP Tour of White House
CoinStats – TRUMP Meme Coin Tumbles After Soaring on Exclusive Gala Announcement

Groups Taking Action:

CREW, Public Citizen

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

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Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #Corruption #EmolumentsClause #DonaldTrump #TrumpMemeCoin

The post Trump ‘Meme Coin’ Cryptocurrency Scheme Selling Access to the President Raises Alarms for Emolument Clause Violations appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 12, 2025

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

February 10th, the head of the Office of Government Ethics, a Senate-confirmed position, was fired by letter by President Donald Trump, likely illegally. In an even more questionable action the same day, the U.S. Department of Justice dropped federal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

As we reported last December, Mayor Adams was accused by the Biden DOJ with taking campaign donations from foreign nationals and businessmen, allegedly using “straw donors” to make them appear as legitimate donations.  He was also accused of doing favors in exchange for luxury travel and attempting to conceal those transactions.  

January 17th, Adams traveled to meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, and recently, Adams expressed a willingness to work with the administration on immigration, contrary to New York City’s status as a sanctuary city. 

Now, DOJ has reversed course, citing a memo from Trump’s AG, “Restoring The Integrity and Credibility of the Department of Justice”,  and Trump’s executive order, “Ending The Weaponization of the Federal Government.” 

Also on Monday, David Huitema, the director of the Office of Government Ethics, confirmed by the Senate in December for a five year term, was notified of his firing by Trump. The head of the Office of Special Counsel, Hampton Dellinger,  fired by Trump February 7th, had his removal blocked by a federal judge on Monday.

We’ve linked DOJ’s memo dropping charges against Adams at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.   I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

The Hill – Trump fires Office of Government Ethics chief
American Democracy Minute – (2024)  NYC’s Embattled Mayor Denied $4.5 Million in Matching Funds from City’s Public Campaign Finance Funding System
The Guardian – ‘Currying favor with Trump’: Eric Adams’ rightward drift sparks speculation as prosecution looms
CNN – Justice Department directs prosecutors to drop federal corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams
U.S. Department of Justice  via CNN – Dismissal Without Prejudice of Prosecution of Mayor Eric Adams

Associated Press – Judge orders fired head of whistleblower agency reinstated while fight continues over Trump removal

Groups Taking Action:

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Brennan Center for Justice, Public Citizen 

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, and SHARE! 

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!

Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #DraintheSwamp #DonaldTrump #EricAdams, #NYC #MoneyinPolitics #PoliticalCorruption

The post Trump Fires Office of Government Ethics Chief Monday; Hours Later, DOJ Drops Campaign Corruption Charges Against NYC Mayor Eric Adams appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for December 15, 2022

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

 Journalist Tiffany Fong – Interview with former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (Campaign donation discussions at 13 minutes)
CNBC – Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried hit with campaign finance complaint over GOP ‘dark’ money
Forbes – Sam Bankman-Fried says he donated just as many millions to Republicans as Democrats, but didn’t publicize it because reporters would ‘freak the f–k out’
The Hill – FTX founder Bankman-Fried’s campaign finance charges ‘just the tip of the iceberg

OpenSecrets.org – Largest Campaign Donors

Groups Taking Action:
Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington (CREW), Public Citizen, Open Democracy
 

Today’s Script:  (Variations occur with audio due to editing for time)

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

Recent revelations from a disgraced cryptocurrency CEO gives us a glimpse of just how much campaign money flows into our election system – both what gets reported, and what’s called “dark money.”  And both the major parties refuse to stop the torrent.

In an interview with journalist Tiffany Fong in November, FTX crypto exchange CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, now in custody in the Bahamas, admitted that he had not only given $40 million to Democrats and Democratic PACs to fund primary races, but he said he also gave an equal amount of “dark money” to Republican candidates.   It’s not known which dark money organizations, but typically 501c3 & 501c4 nonprofits, Limited Liability Corporations and other instruments are used to shield donor identities. 

Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington, has since filed a campaign finance reform complaint with the Federal Elections Commission. CREW suggested that Bankman-Fried contributed as much as $37 Million more to campaigns than was reported to the FEC, and says that while the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision allows independent expenditures to groups, it doesn’t not allow those groups to “pass through” donations directly to candidates. 

Several politicians, including Arizona U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema, have reportedly returned money given to them by Bankman-Fried.  

We have links to the campaign funding transparency website OpenSecrets, and more details on the allegations at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.   For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.

The post Revelations from Crypto CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Show How Reported – And Unreported -Money Funds Our Candidates appeared first on American Democracy Minute.