U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the former CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, which handles Tether’s finances in the U.S., has been questioned by Senate Democrats about reports that a trust linked to his children received a loan from Tether to help finance Lutnick’s divestment of his company stake that went to his children.
Senators Elizabeth Warren, who is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, and Ron Wyden, who is the top Democrat on the Finance Committee, asked the leading global issuer of stablecoins whether it helped fund Lutnick’s multi-billion-dollar transfer of financial services businesses through trusts linked to his adult children when Lutnick complied with government demands after complying with Caethics requirements.
“If the reports of this loan are accurate, it would raise serious questions about the relationship between Secretary Lutnick and Tether, and Tether’s influence on Mr. Lutnick’s policy decisions,” the lawmakers wrote in both letters, which responded to reporting of loans of unspecified amounts that first appeared in Bloomberg News.
Congress, with help from President Donald Trump’s administration, helped usher in a new law last year to govern stablecoin issuers, including Tether. CEO Ardoino was a front-row guest at a White House signing of the law, known as the GENIUS Act. Lutnick was also on hand for the celebration and has been a member of the President’s Digital Assets Task Force that outlines and drives US crypto policy.
“It is critical that you make decisions because they are in the best interest of the American public, not in the financial interest of your family or Tether,” the senators wrote to Lutnick.
Representatives for the Department of Commerce and Tether did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the letters.
Lutnick’s Cantor is now overseen by sons Brandon Lutnick, Chairman & CEO, and Kyle Lutnick, Executive Vice Chairman.
Tether, headquartered in El Salvador, has pursued an American strategy with the launch of its USAT stablecoin and an American arm of the company, which is headed by Bo Hines, a former crypto adviser to Trump.
Cantor is so far the largest donor to Fellowship PAC, a relatively new political action committee that has so far spent a few million dollars supporting Republicans in various Senate, House and gubernatorial races. Funding from the Fellowship, which is headed by a Tether US executive, has been through a media company whose co-founders include Hines and his father.
