WASHINGTON–U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Tuesday introduced the Modern Emoluments and Malfeasance Enforcement (MEME) Act, legislation to prevent corrupt federal officials from using their position to profit off digital assets such as meme coins. U.S. Representative Sam Liccardo (D-Calif.-16) introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

On January 17th, three days before the inauguration, President Donald Trump launched $TRUMP, a meme coin or digital asset with no inherent value. The coin was initially only worth a few cents, but it exploded in value upon limited release and drove Trump’s net worth temporarily north of $50 billion. Each time the coin is released and traded, Trump makes money from trading fees, and he and his family have made more than $100 million from these fees. There is no way to know who is buying the coin, which leaves the door wide open for billionaires, Russian oligarchs, and Saudi princes to secretly purchase $TRUMP and directly enrich the president in order to curry favor.

Last month, Trump’s team announced the top 220 meme coin holders would be invited for an exclusive dinner with the president and the top 25 coin holders would get a “Special VIP Tour” of the White House. After that message went up, the price of $TRUMP jumped more than 50 percent and its market value soared to $2.7 billion. In just two days following the announcement of the dinner, Trump and his allies made nearly $900,000 in trading fees alone.

The MEME Act would prohibit the President, Vice President, Members of Congress, senior Executive Branch officials, and their spouses and dependent children from issuing, sponsoring, or endorsing a security, future, commodity, or digital asset. After the asset’s issuance, the proposal would bar federal officials from engaging in the promotion or other conduct likely to benefit themselves financially. The legislation subjects violators to criminal and civil penalties.

“The Trump meme coin is the single most corrupt act ever committed by a president. Donald Trump is essentially posting his Venmo for any billionaire CEO or foreign oligarch to cash in some favors by secretly sending him millions of dollars. It’s almost unbelievable until you remember this president will do whatever it takes – even selling access to the White House – to make himself richer. This is not normal, and we won’t let him get away with it,” said Murphy.

“Even more disturbing than the kleptocratic actions of this President and his minions has been the utter silence of the Republican majority. That’s why, several weeks ago, I introduced the MEME Act—to make corruption criminal again. Since then, we've learned of the Trump family’s collection of hundreds of millions in fees, 220 $TRUMP investors being invited to an exclusive White House dinner, and Abu Dhabi investing $2 billion through the First Family’s stablecoin. This blatant corruption must end,” said Liccardo.

Full text of the legislation can be found HERE. Click HERE to watch Murphy’s video on the legislation.

###