A group of House Democrats on Thursday asked inspectors general at the State and Commerce Departments to investigate whether Steve Witkoff, the White House’s Middle East envoy, had violated ethics rules by mixing his government role with his family’s business interests.
The letter cited an investigation published by The New York Times last year that showed that Mr. Witkoff had advocated for the United States to export valuable computer chips to the United Arab Emirates at the same time that his family’s cryptocurrency firm was landing a $2 billion business deal with the Emirati government.
Mr. Witkoff’s son Zach announced the crypto transaction at a conference in Dubai last May. Two weeks later, the White House agreed to a deal with the Emirati government to export the chips, despite concerns from some national security officials.
“The timing of these two deals raises serious questions about the impact Mr. Witkoff’s personal and family finances are playing in his official role as Special Envoy,” said the letter, which was signed by Representatives Gregory Meeks and Gabe Amo, the top Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Representative Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.Last year, a White House spokeswoman told The Times that the crypto deal was “totally unrelated to any government business.” David Warrington, the White House counsel, said in a statement on Thursday that Mr. Witkoff takes his ethics requirements seriously and “is working with ethics officials and counsel to ensure he is in full compliance.”
The State Department and the Commerce Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Weeks before the 2024 election, Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Trump went into business together, unveiling a crypto company called World Liberty Financial that would be run by their sons.
World Liberty said in May that Mr. Witkoff was divesting from the company. But a disclosure document that he signed in August showed that he still had a financial interest in the firm.
World Liberty has denied any connection between the back-to-back deals with the Emiratis.
“This letter is chock-full of frivolous insinuations and is a part of an ongoing partisan witch hunt that isn’t based in reality,” David Wachsman, a World Liberty spokesman, said in a statement. “Steve Witkoff has never used his government position to benefit World Liberty Financial.”
In September, two Senate Democrats sent their own letter to the State and Commerce Department inspectors general, requesting investigations into the Emirati deals.
A State Department official responded last month, saying the inspector general’s Office of Investigations was reviewing the matter.
Edward Wong contributed reporting.
David Yaffe-Bellany writes about the crypto industry from New York. He can be reached at [email protected].
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