Trump aides' involvement in massive cryptocurrency and chip transactions sparks ethics scrutiny

 according to The New York Times, two Democratic senators have requested inspectors general from the Department of Commerce and the State Department to investigate whether Trump administration officials violated ethical rules in two multi-billion dollar transactions involving the United Arab Emirates.

One transaction involves a U.S. plan to allow the UAE to import AI-designed chips. The other transaction involves a company supported by the UAE government sending $2 billion to a cryptocurrency company created by the Trump family and one of their advisors, Steve Witkoff. In the first six months of this year, Witkoff served as a State Department employee before moving to work at the White House.

Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan wrote in a letter to the acting inspectors general at the State Department and Commerce Department and the government ethics office, "The pattern of these transactions is extremely concerning."