Georgia Senator calls Trump memecoin dinner ‘impeachable offense’

US lawmakers should impeach President Donald Trump for his decision to reward investors who bought his memecoin with a “gala dinner,” according to US Senator Jon Ossoff.

“When the sitting president of the United States is selling access for what are effectively payments directly to him — there is no question that that rises to the level of an impeachable offense,” Ossoff, a Democrat from Georgia, told a frustrated crowd at a town hall on Friday in a video shared by Georgia political reporter Greg Bluestein.

The House of Representatives can vote to impeach any federal official, including the president, for treason, bribery, and “other high crimes and misdemeanors.” That triggers an impeachment trial in the Senate. If the president were found guilty by two-thirds of senators, he would be removed from office.

Trump was impeached twice in his first term. In both impeachment trials, the Senate voted to acquit the president.

In his quest to make the US a “Bitcoin superpower,” Trump has appointed pro-crypto regulators and pushed for new, crypto-specific legislation.

At the same time, the president has launched or backed several crypto businesses, drawing condemnation from ethics experts, congressional Democrats, and even Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who say the ventures create a conflict of interest.

Crypto businesses linked to Trump or members of his family include stablecoin issuer World Liberty Financial, crypto-based exchange-traded funds, a Bitcoin mining venture, and a pair of memecoins named after the president and the First Lady.

On Wednesday, the website for the TRUMP memecoin said the top 220 investors will be invited to a gala dinner with the US President at his Virginia golf club on May 22.

The top 25 holders will also be invited to a VIP reception with the president and receive a tour of the White House.

The memecoin has soared more than 40% since the announcement. Trump and his collaborators own 80% of the token’s supply, a stash worth an estimated $10.8 billion as of Friday.

“I saw just 48 hours ago, he is granting audiences to people who buy his memecoin,” Ossoff said.

“In our corrupt political system, it is a standard practice, tragically, for elected officials to grant audiences and time to people in exchange for campaign contributions. He is granting audiences to people who purchase the memecoin that directly enriches him.”

Trump doesn’t directly benefit from the purchase of TRUMP tokens. Still, critics say the token could be used to bribe the president, as any large purchases could drive up the token’s value — and, in turn, Trump’s net worth — as they did immediately after the gala dinner was announced.

Impeachment proceedings could be a long way off, Ossoff conceded. That’s because there’s little chance that Republicans who control the House will turn on the president.

“The only way to achieve what you want to achieve is to have a [Democrat] majority in the US House of Representatives,” Ossoff told the crowd on Friday.

Aleks Gilbert is DL News’ New York-based DeFi correspondent. You can reach him at aleks@dlnews.com.