Trump aide involved in massive cryptocurrency and chip deals raises ethical scrutiny

ChainCatcher news, according to The New York Times, two Democratic senators from the United States have requested the inspectors general of the Department of Commerce and the State Department to investigate whether officials from the Trump administration violated ethical standards in two multi-billion dollar deals involving the United Arab Emirates.

One of the deals involves a U.S. plan to allow the UAE to import American-designed artificial intelligence chips. The other deal involves a company backed by the UAE government transferring $2 billion to a cryptocurrency company created by the Trump family and one of its advisors, Steve Witkoff. In the first six months of this year, Witkoff served officially as a State Department employee before being reassigned to the White House.

Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren and Michigan Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin wrote in a letter to the acting inspectors general of the State Department and the Department of Commerce, as well as the government ethics office: "The pattern of these transactions is extremely concerning."