- A pair of US Senators are demanding answers from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
- A trust benefiting his children received a loan from Tether just as he sold them his stake in Cantor Fitzgerald, according to a news report cited by the senators.
- “We want to ensure that Tether has not sought to bribe or otherwise exert control or influence over you," they wrote.
A pair of US Senators are demanding answers from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick after a recent news report raised questions about his relationship with Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer.
A trust benefitting Lutnick’s four children borrowed from Tether in October, just as Lutnick sold them his multibillion-dollar stake in finance giant Cantor Fitzgerald, Bloomberg reported last month.
Lutnick’s stake in Cantor Fitzgerald was reportedly sold to multiple trusts that benefit his children. But the trust that borrowed from Tether holds more than half the equity in Cantor, according to Bloomberg. Moreover, the loan was reportedly backed by “all assets” in the trust.
“If reports of this loan are accurate, it would raise serious questions about your relationship with Tether and the company’s influence on your policy decisions,” Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden wrote in their letter, dated April 29.
“We want to ensure that Tether has not sought to bribe or otherwise exert control or influence over you.”
Tether and the Department of Commerce did not immediately respond to DL News’ requests for comment.
The letter is the latest example of Democrats using crypto as a cudgel against President Donald Trump and his allies, many of whom have ties to the industry. Democrats argue those ties pose conflicts of interest, and have raised the issue at virtually every hearing over crypto legislation since Trump began his second term as president.
Lutnick has a long history with Tether.
He was the longtime chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, a New York financial services firm. Cantor manages the billions in US Treasury bonds that back USDT, Tether’s stablecoin.
The billionaire hasn’t just done business with Tether — he’s personally vouched for the firm, which has faced speculation that USDT isn’t fully backed by high-quality reserve assets.
“There’s a company that I like called Tether,” Lutnick said in a televised interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in 2024. “From what we’ve seen, and we did a lot of work, they have the money they say they have.”
When he became Commerce Secretary in February 2025, he agreed to divest from his stake in Cantor. He completed his divestiture in October of that year.
“This document raises questions about whether Tether may have helped provide your children with the capital needed to purchase your stake in Cantor Fitzgerald, and in return, secured an interest in your children’s assets,” Warren and Wyden wrote.
The senators asked Lutnick whether Tether’s loan financed his divestiture from Cantor, whether he had a role in "procuring, soliciting, and/or negotiating the loan," the loan's size and terms, and whether he had any contact with Tether or its executives since he became Commerce Secretary.
Tether and the Department of Commerce did not immediately respond to DL News’ requests for comment.
Aleks Gilbert is DL News’ New York-based DeFi Correspondent. Reach out to him with tips at aleks@dlnews.com.
