With Lutnick Pick, Trump Adds Another Billionaire Scam Enabler to His Corporate Cabinet

November 19, 2024

With Lutnick Pick, Trump Adds Another Billionaire Scam Enabler to His Corporate Cabinet

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, President-elect Donald Trump named crypto-promoter Howard Lutnick to head the Commerce Department. Lutnick, who is currently CEO of Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald, is also a banker for Tether, a controversial venture subject to several investigations.

Tether is a "stablecoin" where purchasers receive one Tether token for $1; the dollars are supposed to be invested in safe reserves including Treasury bonds managed by firms such as Cantor Fitzgerald. The New York Attorney General claimed Tether did not truly back its tokens with adequate reserves. Federal officials are also reportedly investigating Tether over alleged criminal violations of sanctions and anti-money-laundering rules.

As co-chair of Trump's transition team, Lutnick may also have helped arrange a meeting between Trump and Coinbase chief Brian Armstrong. Armstrong helped steer a record amount of political spending from the crypto industry into the 2024 election, according to Public Citizen reports. Coinbase is also subject to a federal enforcement case and a Public Citizen complaint about unlawful political spending.

Bartlett Naylor, a financial policy advocate for Public Citizen issued the following statement in response:

"Debris from crypto's political spending tsunami will jam up more halls in Washington than ever before if Lutnick is confirmed as secretary of Commerce. The President-elect, who once correctly called bitcoin a scam, now surrounds himself with even more crypto enablers.

Cryptocurrency won't return good jobs to the heartland or reduce food prices; it will only thin the wallets of those vulnerable to a now government-legitimized con."