A senior Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives has launched a formal probe into World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a cryptocurrency project linked to former President Donald Trump, following reports of a $500 million investment connected to the United Arab Emirates royal family.
Rep. Ro Khanna of California, a ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, sent a detailed letter on Wednesday seeking information and documents from WLFI co-founder Zach Witkoff. The request centers on concerns about national security, foreign influence, and potential legal violations.
Deal details raise questions
Khanna’s inquiry follows a Wall Street Journal report that Aryam Investment 1, an entity controlled by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, acquired a 49 percent stake in World Liberty Financial. Sheikh Tahnoon serves as the UAE’s national security advisor and is the brother of the country’s president.
According to the report, the deal was finalized just four days before Trump’s inauguration. It included an upfront payment of $250 million, with $187 million allegedly flowing to Trump family entities and at least $31 million going to firms affiliated with Steve Witkoff, the U.S. president’s special envoy to the Middle East.
Concerns over China and U.S. policy shifts
In his letter, Khanna expressed concern that the investment may have coincided with, or influenced, changes in U.S. export policy involving advanced artificial intelligence semiconductors. These restrictions are designed to prevent sensitive technology from being transferred to China.
Sheikh Tahnoon oversees several major technology and investment firms, including G42 and MGX, which have previously faced scrutiny over alleged links to Chinese companies. After the reported WLFI investment, the U.S. approved export licenses in November 2025 allowing advanced chips to be sent to G42 and backed a large-scale AI data center project in the UAE.
Khanna also highlighted a separate $2 billion MGX investment into Binance, the global cryptocurrency exchange founded in China. That deal, completed in March 2025, reportedly used World Liberty Financial’s USD1 stablecoin and coincided with Sheikh Tahnoon’s visit to Washington for meetings with Trump.
Further raising eyebrows, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao received a presidential pardon in October 2025, roughly a month before the U.S. approved the chip export licenses.
“Taken together, these arrangements are not just a scandal, but may even represent a violation of multiple laws and the United States Constitution,” Khanna wrote.
Possible legal and constitutional issues
The letter argues that the series of transactions could pose serious national security risks and potentially violate the Constitution’s emoluments clause, which bars federal officials from accepting financial benefits from foreign governments without congressional approval.
Khanna is requesting responses to 16 specific questions by March 1, 2026. These include details on ownership structures, due diligence conducted on UAE-linked entities, any involvement in U.S. policy discussions, and revenue ties to Chinese sources. He is also seeking documents such as investment agreements, communications related to the Binance transaction, capitalization tables, and internal conflict-of-interest policies.
“In their totality, these transactions, investments, and pardons do not just bear the appearance of impropriety, but of illegality,” the letter stated. “On a matter with such significant implications on our competition with the Chinese Communist Party, the American people deserve full transparency.”
Awaiting a response
As of now, World Liberty Financial has not publicly responded to the inquiry. Requests for comment remain unanswered.
The investigation adds to growing scrutiny around the intersection of cryptocurrency, foreign investment, and U.S. policymaking, a space that continues to draw attention from lawmakers across party lines.
