WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Two Democratic members of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee on Friday asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to examine the potential national security implications of a reported purchase of a $500 million stake in the Trump family’s cryptocurrency venture by the United Arab Emirates' national security adviser.
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Andy Kim asked Bessent, who heads the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, to determine whether a CFIUS review
is required of the 49% UAE stake in World Liberty Financial and, if so, to conduct a comprehensive, thorough and unbiased investigation.
In a letter viewed by Reuters, they asked Bessent to respond to several questions about the transaction by March 5, including whether CFIUS had reviewed the deal in any form, or submitted any recommendations to Republican President Donald Trump about it.
The Treasury had no immediate comment on the letter.
"The transaction raises significant national security concerns," the senators said in the letter.
Warren and other Democratic senators have repeatedly raised questions about World Liberty Financial, which was founded two months before Trump's November 2024 victory in the U.S. presidential election, and potential conflicts of interest. The firm was announced by businessman Steve Witkoff, who is now a key Trump envoy.
Trump's aides have said he has handed over control of his business ventures, which are being reviewed by outside ethics lawyers.
CFIUS is a Treasury-led interagency committee that vets foreign investments for national security risks, including top officials from the Defense, State, Commerce, Homeland Security and Justice departments.
Warren and Kim said CFIUS had a "clear mandate to address potential national security risks from foreign investments, including transactions that could allow foreign governments like China or the UAE to access critical technology or the sensitive personal data of U.S. citizens."
They said the reported deal raised questions about whether the UAE or China might be able to access any of the “sensitive personal information” that World Liberty Financial says it collects, they wrote.
The Wall Street Journal last month reported that G42, a company backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who manages the UAE's largest wealth fund and is a member of the Gulf nation's royal family, bought the stake in World Liberty Financial days before Trump began his second term in January 2025. Months later, the Trump administration approved the sale of advanced AI chips to the UAE.
World Liberty is behind the stablecoin USD1, which is pegged to the U.S. dollar and backed by short-term U.S. government Treasuries, U.S. dollar deposits, and other cash equivalents.
The company counts President Trump and Witkoff as co-founders emeritus, and is run by members of the Trump and Witkoff families.
Warren and Kim noted that U.S. intelligence had long warned that G42 may have provided technology to assist China's military.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal)
