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Molly

@mol-lywhite.bsky.social

writes citationneeded.news • runs @web3isgoinggreat.com and @influence.citationneeded.news • tech researcher and cryptocurrency industry critic • software engineer • Wikipedian support my work: citationneeded.news/signup links: mollywhite.net/linktree 💗💜💙

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Molly White@molly.wiki · 3mo ago

Though Republicans and the crypto industry presented the latest draft crypto bill as a viable option after months of disagreements, even the crypto-friendliest Democrats have are opposing its toothless ethics provision that would not meaningfully impact the President’s crypto grift.

While some of the bill’s supporters had hoped that resolving the banking–crypto impasse on stablecoin yield [I99, 102, 103] would allow the bill to rocket to the President’s desk, significant disagreements remain. Chief among them is ethics. Senate Democrats — including those who supported the bill’s progression out of the Senate Banking Committee — are insisting on some provisions that would limit the President’s self-enrichment via crypto. The recent release of President Trump’s 2025 annual financial disclosure, which revealed he had made more than $1.4 billion in the last year just from his crypto ventures, has only amplified these demands. Link card to Citation Needed post titled “Trumps $1.4 billion crypto disclosure” Republicans and crypto figures initially presented the latest draft, which went public on July 22 after White House sign-off, as a promising path to law. The so-called “compromise” on ethics would bar the president, vice president, and members of Congress from issuing cryptocurrencies, with enforcement delegated to the Department of Justice.
Molly White@molly.wiki · 3mo ago

Newsletter: The Clarity Act cryptocurrency market structure bill may well be dead, as the crypto industry has spent $200 million to get a bill too corrupt for Democrats to pass and a president too corrupt to sign anything that might meaningfully limit his grift. www.citationneeded.news/issue-107/

Issue 107 – An unserious offer

The crypto industry has spent $200 million to get a bill too corrupt for Democrats to pass and a president too corrupt to sign anything that might meaningfully limit his grift.

citationneeded.news

Molly White@molly.wiki · 3mo ago

Ethics enforcement would be left to a DOJ that has shown no appetite for reining in Trump’s corruption. The provision would expire in 2029, and explicitly bars retroactive enforcement against Trump. Any fine is capped at $500k: less than 0.04% of what the President brought in from crypto last year.

But the provision is extremely narrow: it bars the President from issuing tokens while largely leaving untouched his family’s existing web of crypto businesses. It gives him at least a full year to divest or move to a blind trust his stakes in World Liberty Financial and the $TRUMP memecoin.3 And it’s temporary, set to expire on January 20, 2029 — the day a new president takes office. The provision not only fails to establish a standard for future administrations, it shields Trump from future accountability by expressly barring enforcement of penalties for “pre-sunset conduct” after that date. The DOJ enforcement mechanism is entirely toothless. The department is run by Trump appointees who have already shown no appetite for investigating the president’s many conflicts of interest, and is currently headed by Todd Blanche — a former personal lawyer to Trump. Any violations would result in a fine capped at $500,000: less than 0.04% of Trump’s crypto income last year.
Molly White@molly.wiki · 3mo ago

Senate Majority Leader John Thune says he doesn’t think the Clarity Act can pass before August recess. Referring to Clarity and a college sports bill, he said: “I don’t think we’ll be able to get them done. I would like to at least get Clarity started. We’ll see where the votes are.”

Molly White@molly.wiki · 3mo ago

Newsletter: The Clarity Act cryptocurrency market structure bill may well be dead, as the crypto industry has spent $200 million to get a bill too corrupt for Democrats to pass and a president too corrupt to sign anything that might meaningfully limit his grift. www.citationneeded.news/issue-107/

Molly White@molly.wiki · 3mo ago

Click any node or connection in the Trump crypto empire map to open its panel and view explanatory annotations and citations. Toggle the income overlay to see financial-disclosure figures from the most recent filings. Search for entities, or filter by category. map.citationneeded.news

A screenshot of the map, with a side panel open showing Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust. Side panel contents: Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust Intermediary Entity When Walter Shaub, then Director of the Office of Government Ethics, called on President Trump to divest from the Trump Organization during his first term, Trump instead transferred his operating businesses to the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust. Many had urged him to use a blind trust. Critics argued the DJT Revocable Trust fell far short of that standard: Trump remained the sole beneficiary, his son controlled the assets, and Trump could revoke the arrangement at any time. Shaub later commented that the arrangement was “meaningless from a conflict of interest perspective” and that “setting up a trust to hold his operating businesses adds nothing to the equation. This is not a blind trust—it’s not even close.” Established 2014 Sources ↗ Stenglein, Christine, "OGE Director warns Trump’s business plan insufficient", The Brookings Institution, January 11, 2017 ↗ Craig, Susanne, and Eric Lipton, "Trust Records Show Trump Is Still Closely Tied to His Empire", The New York Times, February 3, 2017 ↗ Kravitz, Derek, and Al Shaw, "Trump Lawyer Confirms President Can Pull Money From His Businesses Whenever He Wants", ProPublica, April 4, 2017 ←controlled by Donald Trump Jr. According to a 2024 regulatory filing, Donald Trump Jr. "is the sole trustee and has sole voting and
Molly White@molly.wiki · 2mo ago

This article is a great deep dive into some of the shady characters behind World Liberty Financial — Justin Sun among them, despite his recent efforts to distance himself from the project. (He likely hoped this interview would help, and it is a little friendly, but rightly points out his shadiness.)

New York Magazine@nymag.com · 2mo ago

In April, Justin Sun filed a lawsuit against World Liberty Financial alleging fraud. In May, World Liberty sued him for defamation; in June, the company filed a motion to dismiss his case. “I believe that World Liberty is trying to threaten me into silence, but that will not work,” says Sun.

Molly White@molly.wiki · 2mo ago

enjoying imagining the discussion among editors in which they determined if this ought to be pluralized as Spider-Mans, Spider-Men, or Spiders-Man

The former World Liberty adviser said the scenario reminded him of the meme in which two Spider-Mans point at each other.
Molly White@molly.wiki · 2mo ago

btw if you're looking for a book to read after finishing the DCC series, ignore Woman's World and read Discount Dan's Backroom Bargains by James A. Hunter

CREW@citizensforethics.org · 2mo ago

In the nearly 3 years since announcing his candidacy for a second term as president, Donald Trump has filed lawsuits and claims demanding over 70 BILLION DOLLARS.

Trump has filed lawsuits and claims demanding over $70 billion since second term candidacy announcement - CREW | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

Trump has filed lawsuits and claims demanding over $70 billion since he declared his candidacy for office in November 2022.

citizensforethics.org

Molly White@molly.wiki · 2mo ago

when you send me vaguely lawyerly-sounding emails in hopes of threatening me to take down my reporting, and demand i "preserve all potentially relevant records, including ... search-engine submissions"

Browser history entry: how to explain to an asshole wasting my time with his chatbot that i don't have to send him my address just because he might file a bogus lawsuit against me - Google Search