Good evening. Tonight, my colleague Sharon LaFraniere, an investigative reporter in the Washington bureau, writes about how the Winklevoss twins have benefited from Trump’s pro-crypto Washington. We’ll start with the headlines. — Jess Bidgood
How the Winklevoss twins won bigIt is good to be a Winklevoss twin in President Trump’s Washington. The billionaire brothers, Cameron and Tyler, were at the White House when Trump held his cryptocurrency summit in March. And when he signed a crypto bill in July. And when the president hosted an elegant dinner in October for donors to his massive new East Wing ballroom, earning their seats with a contribution. But White House invitations are not all that the brothers — once best known for their feud with the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg — got from Washington this year. The Securities and Exchange Commission also froze a civil court case against their crypto firm in order to work out a settlement, which is pending. My colleagues Ben Protess, Andrea Fuller, Seamus Hughes and I learned about the twins’ battle with the S.E.C. while we were investigating the Trump administration’s rollback in enforcement of securities laws against the crypto industry. Trump himself is a crypto mogul who stands to profit from companies that his administration oversees — an inherent conflict of interest. And companies with ties to the president, our investigation found, are among the biggest winners of the retreat. A rollback for crypto firms with ties to TrumpSince Trump returned to office, the S.E.C. has eased up on more than 60 percent of ongoing cases against crypto industry firms, as defined by The New York Times, that it inherited from the Biden administration. Cases that met this definition included those against crypto issuers, exchanges, dealers and established mining ventures. In some, the agency paused its litigation to pursue resolutions or tried to lessen a court-ordered penalty. In others, it moved to dismiss the complaints altogether. In fact, it abandoned crypto industry cases at a far higher rate than it did other cases. And in five out of the seven crypto cases the S.E.C. ditched, the defendants either had ties to Trump family businesses or had donated to his ballroom, inauguration or political causes. Enforcement appears to be on hold. In Trump’s first term, before he became a crypto enthusiast, the agency averaged about one case a month against crypto firms. The Biden administration ramped up its efforts, averaging more than two a month. Since Trump returned to the White House, the S.E.C. has not brought a single crypto case, per The Times definition. What does it all add up to? Whether you believe cryptocurrencies are mostly securities that should be governed by time-tested laws meant to protect investors and markets — or whether you consider them a different kind of animal that deserves its own rules — the crypto industry is having a heyday in Washington. Crypto firms see what is going on as a welcome and justified course correction. The S.E.C. says it handles cases based on the merits, not on whom the defendants know. But defenders of the S.E.C.’s formerly tough approach say the government is selling out ordinary investors while Trump’s buddies benefit. ‘Male models with a big, beautiful brain’Gemini Trust, which is owned and run by the Winklevosses, is among the firms whose regulatory outlooks have suddenly brightened. Few crypto industry players seem closer to Trump than the 44-year-old twins. They each donated $1 million to a political fund-raising organization that supported Trump’s 2024 campaign, along with other Republican causes. Besides chipping in for the ballroom, they backed Executive Branch, a new exclusive club in Washington that is partly owned by Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son. And their investment firm recently put money into American Bitcoin, a new crypto mining company in which Eric Trump is a co-founder and Donald Trump Jr. is an investor. Trump goes out of his way to single out the Winklevosses. “They’re male models with a big, beautiful brain,” he said at one point. “They’ve got the look. They’ve got the genius. Got plenty of cash,” he said at another event. But when Trump came back into office, Gemini Trust was in legal trouble over a crypto program that had imploded and left at least 230,000 customers in the lurch. Gemini had teamed up with another firm, Genesis Global Capital, that made bad loans with the customers’ assets and then went bankrupt. New York state authorities forced Genesis into a $2 billion settlement in 2024. Customers recovered their money — but only after waiting roughly a year and half. Gemini also struck a deal with New York, agreeing to pay up to $50 million, if needed, to cover any outstanding losses. It denied any wrongdoing and said no customers had lost money in the end. But the S.E.C. had also sued, accusing Gemini and Genesis of the unregistered sale of crypto. While Genesis settled, Gemini was still battling the S.E.C. in court on Inauguration Day. Come April, the S.E.C. decided to try to settle the case instead of litigate it. The S.E.C. disclosed in September that it had reached an agreement, in principal, to resolve it. And that is how it seems the case against the Winklevosses’ firm will end. All it takes now is a vote by a commission whose leaders have said that under Biden, it went way overboard. And whose chairman was picked by a president who says the government’s persecution of the crypto industry is over. Got a tip?
‘There was nobody like Rob’Rob Reiner was far from the only liberal activist and donor in Hollywood. But it was his deep understanding of politics — coupled with his close access to some of the biggest Democratic names and his desire to be more than just a check-writer — that set him apart in the eyes of many liberal politicians, my colleagues Katie Glueck and Adam Nagourney write. Tributes have poured in from the country’s top Democrats since news broke that Reiner and his wife, Michele, were found dead at their home in Los Angeles. Their son has been booked on suspicion of murder, the police said. Former President Barack Obama commended Reiner’s “deep belief in the goodness of people.” The Clintons added that the couple had “made everyone who knew them better.” Reiner “fought for America’s democracy,” former Vice President Kamala Harris said. “I don’t know who was a more passionate speaker, him or me,” said former Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont, adding, “I’ve known lots of Hollywood people who have been very helpful to me over the years when I was in politics, but there was nobody like Rob.”
NUMBER OF THE DAY 6That’s how many years in prison Judge Hannah Dugan could face if convicted on federal charges that she helped an undocumented immigrant evade arrest by leaving her Milwaukee courtroom. Her trial began at a federal courthouse in the city on Monday and is expected to last a week. The case has become an object of intense political debate, my colleagues Julie Bosman and Dan Simmons write. To some, it is a symbol of the Trump administration’s intolerance for pushback. To others, it is an example of a judge failing to remain impartial.
ONE LAST THING The Treasury Department’s war on ‘wokeness’George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln — well, re-enactors of them — recently gathered in Philadelphia for the unveiling of coins designed to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary. Missing from the event’s “fife-and-drum pageantry,” as my colleague Dan Barry writes, was that these coins also represented a rejection of a set of designs meant to commemorate certain notable chapters of the nation’s history, including abolition, women’s suffrage and the civil rights movement. The Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, opted for more general designs for the anniversary coins — a dime, a half-dollar and five quarters. His choices ignored the more diverse recommendations made by a bipartisan group that Congress had review design proposals. Now a Trump dollar coin is in the works and, according to the U.S. treasurer, Brandon Beach, is set to be unveiled soon. Taylor Robinson and Ama Sarpomaa contributed reporting. Read past editions of the newsletter here. If you’re enjoying what you’re reading, please consider recommending it to others. They can sign up here. Have feedback? Ideas for coverage? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at onpolitics@nytimes.com.
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