House committee demands records from World Liberty Financial after reported $500M Abu Dhabi stake

U.S. congressional investigators have opened a focused records request to World Liberty Financial following media reports that an Abu Dhabi-linked investment vehicle purchased nearly half the company for approximately $500 million. The House committee’s letter asks for capitalization tables, board appointment records, purchase agreements, diligence files and payment chains tied to the investment vehicle identified in reporting. Investigators specifically seek clarity on whether any portion of the proceeds—reported in press accounts as about $187 million—was routed to entities linked to the former President’s family and whether additional sums went to founders, affiliates or apparent intermediaries. Other reporting indicates over $31 million moved to parties connected with developer Steve Witkoff and associates; the committee’s request targets those payment trails as well. The panel also asked for materials explaining any governance changes, including new board seats taken by executives aligned with Emirati interests, and any shareholder agreements or voting arrangements that followed the transaction. A technical focus of the inquiry is World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin and how it was used in a separate, previously disclosed roughly $2 billion transfer into a major crypto exchange, a movement that lawmakers say could illuminate tokenized settlement practices. The timing of the January 2025 transaction—completed before a presidential transition and around the period when U.S. agencies expanded certain AI chip exports to the UAE—has heightened scrutiny of whether commercial ties intersected with sensitive technology policy decisions. The committee demanded preservation of communications and compliance records related to export controls, sanctions risk, and interactions with UAE- or China-linked entities, and set a firm deadline for production to accelerate its review. Company and White House spokespeople have denied improper influence and said ethical firewalls were in place; investigators contend the documents are necessary to assess potential national-security, sanctions, or disclosure risks. Depending on what the records show, the probe could lead to further oversight steps, referrals to regulators or enforcement actions, and legislative attention to tokenized settlement rails and foreign investment transparency in the crypto sector.