US Senator Blumenthal Probes Tether Over Deal With Ex-Trump Adviser

probes Tether — US Senator Richard Blumenthal has launched a probe into stablecoin issuer Tether, demanding records related to a reported $6.3 million deal with a company co-founded by former White House crypto adviser Bo Hines.

In a letter to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino dated October 23, Blumenthal, the Democratic ranking member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, requested information on contracts, payments, and communications between Tether and the marketing firm Nxum. The senator alleged the arrangement was part of what he called the Trump administration‘s “self-enrichment and self-dealings with cryptocurrency firms.”

Blumenthal cited a Wall Street Journal report indicating Hines, while serving as executive director of the President’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, coordinated lobbying efforts with Nxum over encrypted messaging apps. The senator’s letter claims messages show Tether was “directly coordinating” Nxum’s lobbying on stablecoin legislation, with Ardoino allegedly demanding opponents be “obliterated.”

A Tether spokesperson told Cointelegraph the company was aware of the allegations and stated an external counsel “found no evidence of wrongdoing” after a previous internal investigation. Hines left his White House role in August 2025 and later joined Tether as a strategic adviser.