'Opened the floodgates': Analyst warns Trump his legacy will be 'doom loop' of corruption
Robert Reich, Bill Clinton's former Labor Secretary, warned on Wednesday that President Donald Trump has "opened the floodgates" for corruption by embracing the cryptocurrency industry.
Reich made the comments during an interview on The Daily Beast's eponymous podcast.
"This is pure corruption," Reich said. "Let's not beat around the bush. When history is written about this administration, one of the first lines in the first paragraphs is going to be about the extraordinary payoffs that were made to Donald Trump."
"Some of them are nothing but attempts to curry favor, and crypto has opened the floodgates to that kind of currying of favor," he continued. "It is a scandal."
The Wall Street Journal reported in early September that the Trump family appears to have made at least $5 billion after launching a new cryptocurrency, called WLFI. In all, the Trump family has reportedly made about $8 billion since taking office nine months ago, according to reports.
Reich noted that the Trump administration's hands-off approach to regulating crypto also presents an ethical quagmire. The industry has become so wealthy that it is now paying off lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, Reich said.
"You have this sort of doom loop with regard to what it can get away with," Reich said about the crypto industry.
"The only purpose of crypto is to hide illicit, illegal, and oftentimes immoral transactions," he continued.