After Latest Round of Reports, Warren Reiterates Call on Bessent, Blanche to Investigate National Security Risks Posed by World Liberty Financial

After Latest Round of Reports, Warren Reiterates Call on Bessent, Blanche to Investigate National Security Risks Posed by World Liberty Financial

Clarity Act would allow President Trump to continue profiting from his crypto ventures while reports suggest WLF may be facilitating illicit activity

"These new reports indicate that WLF may have solicited and received $100 million from a businessman known publicly and confirmed in July 2026 to be under investigation for money laundering in the United Kingdom."

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, wrote to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Attorney General Todd Blanche, calling on the Trump Administration to investigate the national security risks posed by World Liberty Financial (WLF) and any of its affiliated entities. Given yet another round of reporting about the company's potential facilitation of illicit finance - most recently, a report that WLF may have received $100 million from a businessman reportedly the subject of a money-laundering investigation in the United Kingdom - the Ranking Member reiterated previous requests from November 2025 and May 2026 for an investigation into WLF.

The New York Times reported in August that Guren "Bobby" Zhou, a failed hardwood flooring retailer in Britain, became one of the largest buyers of WLF tokens after coming under investigation for money laundering in Britain just two years earlier. Through a new firm called Aqua 1, Zhou reportedly spent $100 million on the WLF tokens.

The report noted that "the curious case of Mr. Zhou illustrates the ease with which buyers with unknown backgrounds and motivations can use the anonymity of cryptocurrency to shower Mr. Trump with money."

U.S. law requires a range of financial institutions to maintain effective programs to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. As the law states, these programs "safeguard national security and generate significant public benefits by preventing the flow of illicit funds in the financial system."

"It is time for your agencies to investigate WLF - whose leadership has publicly referred to the company as a 'financial institution,' and which has preliminarily obtained a national trust bank charter - regardless of its ties to the President and his family," wrote Ranking Member Warren.

"As the Senate prepares to vote on crypto market structure legislation with changes that introduce new carveouts from anti-money laundering law, it is critical to understand whether gaps in current legal frameworks - or in the enforcement of federal law - may have allowed the President and his family to profit from illicit activity facilitated through token purchases, including by crypto ventures and other companies tied to WLF," the Ranking Member continued.

"Aqua 1's transaction with WLF raises even more serious questions about the potential national security risks posed by WLF and its affiliates," the Ranking Member concluded.

Ranking Member Warren called on Treasury and DOJ to answer her previous inquiries and provide new information by September 29 on what the agencies are doing to investigate WLF and to address potential money laundering and national security risks.

Ranking Member Warren first requested an investigation into WLF in November 2025, after it reportedly sold tokens to buyers that conducted business with North Korean state-sponsored hackers, sanctioned Russian money-laundering entities, and other illicit actors. She reiterated that call for an investigation in May 2026 after reports that WLF may have partnered with a venture whose "flagship project" had recently been led by U.S.-sanctioned individuals-individuals the Trump Administration designated as part of a crackdown on "a transnational criminal empire" that targets Americans through online investment scams.

###

• Print
• Email
• Tweet