Trump’s crypto corruption is so cartoonish that even crypto bros spotted it instantly when he launched his shitcoin back in January, yet the pro-crypto caucus of Senate Democrats cannot reach the level of integrity and outrage established by a bunch of 20 somethings who spend their lives trading dog coins. On Monday, The American Prospect reported on a hopeful development in the hopeless Democratic Senate caucus, where Sen. Angela Alsobrooks told them that she would not advance the GENIUS Act until the Democrats got further commitments on it. This Republican bill, endorsed by Democrats Ruben Gallego, Andy Kim, Mark Warner and Lisa Blunt Rochester as well, is supposedly designed to regulate stablecoins, cryptocurrencies pegged to the dollar, but when the president of the United States is getting bribes from the United Arab Emirates in his own personal stablecoin, that gives you an idea of what these things are primarily used for (they are also used for gambling on dog coins).
Turns out that the crypto caucus in the Democratic Party just wanted to buy themselves some time to find a way to put on a show pretending that they actually care about the inherent corruption of stablecoins. The American Prospect published a follow up story yesterday, detailing what one source with knowledge of the process told them was “Schumer 101.”
Schumer 101 boils down to treating voters like they are stupid. The crypto Dems held up the GENIUS Act so Chuck Schumer and Jeff Merkley could introduce the End Crypto Corruption Act, a fig leaf of a bill they and anyone else with a basic knowledge of how Senate majorities work knew would never pass. Democratic sponsors of the GENIUS Act like the aforementioned five Democrats who think you’re stupid, along with Kirsten Gillibrand, Catherine Cortez Masto, Cory Booker and Elissa Slotkin supported this new bill designed to fail, and after giving up their leverage, they got it as a standalone vote as an amendment to the GENIUS Act.
These pro-crypto Democrats will now tell you that they tried very hard to stop the inherent corruption within the GENIUS Act, without actually trying. David Dayen of The American Prospect believes that Sen. Merkley is “sincere in his effort and who wasn’t part of this deal,” and Merkley released a statement saying, “This is the right moment to have anti-corruption provisions included in the GENIUS Act.” Had Senate Democrats stuck to their initial position of holding the bill up, they had a much better chance to insert anti-corruption provisions with real teeth into the act, but unfortunately for Merkley, he seems to be the only one in this mess who was sincere in his efforts to accomplish that.
But sincerity and honesty are just not how Chuck Schumer operates. He has long preferred to give up his leverage so he can try to craft an underwhelming message to voters through hopeless amendments to nowhere. He does this all the time, and he did it again here.
They think you’re stupid.
The largest stablecoin is Tether, which as of this writing has a market cap just under $150 billion. It is widely known as the “go-to cryptocurrency” for criminals, and practically every year you can find some kind of headline about it being investigated or charged with crimes. It paid an $18.5 million fine to end a New York probe into allegations they tried to cover up $850 million in losses, and a $41 million fine ordered by the CFTC over making untrue or misleading statements and omissions of material fact. Last year the federal government was investigating it over possible violations of sanctions and anti-money-laundering rules, and anyone who has been in crypto for any amount of time knows that it’s an open secret how shady the fundamental business of Tether can be.
And pro-crypto Democrats apparently think that they can pass a bill that could regulate stablecoins like Tether under a president taking bribes in stablecoins and shitcoins. I don’t know what’s worse, that pro-crypto Senate Democrats may actually believe that Republicans are earnest in regulating the greatest gift to bribes and money laundering they’ve ever had, or that Democrats think that their 10,000th attempt at a messaging amendment destined to fail can convince people that they are earnest in their attempts to supposedly regulate an industry designed to bypass regulation.
Today in “I can’t believe we have to call our reps about this:”
The Senate votes tomorrow on a crypto bill that would ENABLE Trump to keep accepting bribes from billionaires, corporations, and foreign govts.
We can block it if every Dem holds firm. Call now: indivisible.org/resource/cal…
[image or embed]
— Leah Greenberg (@leahgreenberg.bsky.social) May 7, 2025 at 12:39 PM
There is still time today to stop the pro-crypto Senate Democrats from voting to enable Trump’s corruption, but it would require every single Senate Democrat to find their conscience, something that has yet to happen in a world where they tell their voters they are doing everything to stop Trump’s agenda but cannot even rise to the level of legislative obstruction that Tommy Tuberville frustrated them with all last year. Senate Democrats are lying liars who lie to you, and “Schumer 101” Democrats have proven that they would much prefer to vote on bills and amendments to nowhere than actually stopping Trump’s corruption. Primarying every Senate Democrat may not be feasible, but we can at least start with the pro-crypto Dems who apparently have no problem with the president of the United States taking bribes if it means they can pretend they are upset about it.
GET SPLINTER RIGHT IN YOUR INBOX
The Truth Hurts
