(By
Norman Eisen and Gabriel Lezra, The Contrarian, 7 Feb 2026)
Building on those successes, the time has come to go
on offense against corruption by Trump and his cronies. That’s
why this week we at DDF, along with wonderful partners, filed a lawsuit
challenging Trump’s so-called “Gold Card” visa program. It is a blatantly
illegal attempt to strip qualified immigrants of a path to citizenship
while selling legal status to wealthy foreigners. Forget “give us your tired,
your poor, your huddled masses.” Trump’s maxim is “give us your money, your
oligarchs, your privileged few.”
Guess who made that lawsuit possible? You did, Contrarians!
All profits from your paid subscriptions go to help support that and our other
251 cases and matters–like our huge win at the Supreme Court this week defending
California’s Prop. 50 and counteracting Trump’s attempt to steal
congressional seats. If you’re not a paid subscriber, please consider becoming
one and joining the fight.
I cover the Gold Card case and nine other outrages in my
updated top 10 list of Trump and his cronies’ worst corruption scandals – and
of the pushback in the courts of law and of public opinion. There is nothing
the American people hate more than corruption, and it has contributed to
Trump’s historic
unpopularity.
Since we published our first list in December, new schemes
have emerged, and old ones have metastasized or featured shocking additional
revelations of abusing power for personal or financial gain, corrupting the
rule of law, and more. What follows is an updated list, reflecting both
brand-new scandals and new developments in cases we flagged before. After you
give the list a look, please keep on reading for our usual roundup of all our
great Contrarian coverage this week.
1. The Epstein Files Cover-Up
The signature corruption scandal of the Trump administration
remains Trump’s association with one of the most notorious child sex
traffickers in history – and his administration’s refusal to turn over all of
the files about the case so we can be certain we have all Trump-Epstein
documents. The administration admitted it’s refusing to
disclose about 3 million files, despite a law requiring their disclosure. The
Department of Justice wants us to trust that it has good reasons for all that,
but the place is run by two of his former defense lawyers, the FBI is helmed by
an even bigger Trump loyalist, and they have acted like it too often for us to
give them any credence. This scandal is not going away.
Current Status: Democracy Defenders Fund filed
a complaint this week with the Office of the Inspector General about
the missing documents, and we are litigating and investigating on multiple
fronts. We will continue to pursue all legal avenues to ensure the complete
release of all eligible files relating to the Epstein investigation, as
required by the Epstein
Files Transparency Act.
2. Selling American Residency to the Super-Rich
In September, Trump debuted the
so-called “Gold Card,” a program that lets wealthy foreigners effectively buy permanent U.S. residency for a $1
million payment to the federal government. That’s bad enough, but consider
this: Rather than asking Congress to create a new visa category, Trump simply
ordered federal agencies to treat these massive cash “gifts” to the Department
of Commerce as proof of eligibility for elite EB-1 and EB-2 visas.
Those are categories Congress reserved for Nobel laureates, pioneering
scientists, and individuals whose work serves the national interest. But these
employment-based visas are strictly
capped – so every Gold Card handed to a millionaire donor necessarily
displaces a qualified scientist, engineer, physician, or researcher already
waiting in line. (It is worth noting that all available EB-1 visas were granted
September 8, 2025, with the cap resetting every year on October 1.) That means
that Trump has effectively transformed lawful permanent residency into a luxury
commodity, letting oligarchs buy into our country like they buy Ferraris and
Picassos.
We’re not letting Trump auction off our immigration system
without a fight. This week, we brought
suit on behalf of a group of highly accomplished professionals –
people who followed the rules, only to find themselves subject to being pushed
aside by wealthy applicants who could jump the line with a seven-figure check.
And remember: Congress — not the president — has the exclusive authority to set
immigration eligibility and raise federal funds. The Gold Card program
overrides Congress’s choices — both as to who qualifies for employment-based
immigration and how and under what conditions agencies may collect revenue.
Current Status: We will see Trump and Commerce
Secretary Howard Lutnick in court (and in the Epstein
files).
3. World Liberty Financial
Trump’s crypto company, World Liberty Financial
(WLFI), was
near the top of our list when we debuted it in December – and things
have only gotten worse. New reporting last
week revealed that the “Spy
Sheikh,” Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan — the United Arab Emirates’
national security adviser and one of the most powerful men
in the Gulf – had quietly amassed a secret stake in Trump’s crypto venture
through a web of investment vehicles designed to obscure his involvement. His
hidden investment in Trump’s crypto business created an extraordinary conflict
of interest: a foreign national security advisor with direct financial ties to
the sitting U.S. president’s private enterprise. And it may already be paying
off, as, months later, the UAE secured a deal for millions of the most advanced
computer chips from American company NVidia, a “coup”
for the tiny nation. The White House has denied
any impropriety here.
Current Status: WLFI is flush with Gulf cash – but
these revelations may make Trump’s crypto conflicts so unpalatable that there
are consequences. Perhaps even the crypto industry PAC’s $193
million midterms war chest won’t be enough to get uneasy Democrats
to vote for legislation
creating a market structure for cryptocurrency without any checks on
Trump’s ability to influence the market to his benefit.
4. The Meme Coin Grift
Trump’s meme coin represents perhaps his most brash
self-enrichment scheme, one unlike anything we have ever seen from an American
president. According to the website, the token is “intended to function as an expression of
support for, and engagement with, the ideals and beliefs embodied by the symbol
“$TRUMP“ — and not as an investment or security. But of course this slice
of code was listed on various crypto exchanges and immediately surged in price.
Since its launch, the coin’s value closely followed Trump’s announcements, with
wild fluctuations. The president even hosted an exclusive dinner for meme coin
“investors” who spent tens of thousands to buy the digital token. This access
auction was a scheme so brazen — even for Trump — that it left ethics experts
like us stunned.
The White House denies any
conflicts of interest.
Current Status: The Trump-dominated Securities
and Exchange Commission has shown zero interest in examining Trump’s meme coin
activities. This makes defeating the new crypto market bill even more
important. We have been sounding the alarm, and our fight continues.
5. Tom Homan’s $50,000
With Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan back in the news as he
took center stage in Minnesota’s ICE invasion, Democracy Defenders Fund this
week expanded our investigation of
his conduct. We launched additional FOIA requests about his alleged acceptance
of a $50,000 payment from undercover federal agents posing as business
executives. Homan has denied wrongdoing.
But if Trump is going to thrust him into the country’s civil rights flashpoint,
then we have to have transparency. A tape of the alleged payoff reportedly
exists. Let’s see it. The secrecy surrounding these meetings raises the same
fundamental question that follows so many Trump officials: Is government power
being secretly shaped by those with money and access? The American people
deserve to know what kind of person has taken control of immigration actions in
Minnesota and whether he can be trusted to wield that power.
Current Status: If we don’t promptly get the
materials we are asking for, we are prepared to pursue all legal remedies. If
Trump and Co. don’t believe us, they should take a look at our 252 cases and
matters.
6. The USD1 Binance-UAE Deal
Less than two months after Trump’s WLFI launched USD1, its
stablecoin, a UAE state-backed investment firm announced that it would use USD1
to finance a $2 billion investment in crypto exchange Binance, which was then
under SEC investigation. In May, Binance decided to
list USD1 – and, days after the announcement, Trump’s SEC dropped its
securities case against the exchange. And then there’s Trump’s treatment of
Binance’s head Changpeng “CZ” Zhao. He pleaded guilty to money laundering in
2023 and got a Trump pardon this past October. The White House defended
Zhao, criticized his prosecution, and blamed the Biden administration for
creating a “war on cryptocurrency.“
Current Status: With last week’s latest revelations
of the UAE’s crypto influence campaign with the “Spy Sheikh’s” role in WLFI (#3
above), it’s worth keeping an eye on this while we wait for the next shoe to
fall.
7. Trump’s Qatari Boeing
In May, Qatar presented Trump and his administration with
a $400 million
Boeing 747, ostensibly to use as Air Force One — a present reportedly worth
more than all foreign gifts bestowed on all former American presidents
combined. As my colleagues and I noted in
a legal complaint,
the Trump administration is apparently illegally transferring nearly $1 billion
from a nuclear weapons program at the Defense Department to retrofit the jet, a
gross mismanagement of key federal funds. And it will barely have time in the
air before Trump’s term ends and it gets “donated”
to Trump’s presidential library for his continued use. Meanwhile, after the
transfer, Qatar got a guarantee that the United States will defend Qatar
through “diplomatic, economic, and, if necessary, military” measures and a new
“military
facility” for Qatar’s Air Force at the Mountain Home Air Force Base in
Idaho. Trump has defended the
transfer of the plane as a legitimate “gift,” and the White House said that “any
gift given by a foreign government is always accepted in full compliance with
all applicable laws. President Trump’s administration is committed to full
transparency.”
Current Status: We’re waiting for the Government
Accountability Office to act on our complaint — but it’s hard to imagine a
clearer conflict of interest.
8. Melania’s Amazin’ Flop
Amazon’s Melania film had its lavish
Washington, D.C., premiere last
week, and it went about as expected: a high-profile commercial event designed
to elevate — and monetize — the Trump brand. Black carpets, media spectacle,
and exclusive distribution through Amazon’s Prime Video platform were deployed
to attempt to transform Melania Trump’s story into something in line with the
$40 million Amazon paid for the rights. That was about $26
million above the nearest bidder, which raises questions about what Amazon
was really paying for here. Unfortunately for Amazon’s Jeff
Bezos, Melania Trump, and director Brett Ratner (who was already having a bad
day after surfacing in
the Epstein files), the movie scored a putrid 6% on Rotten
Tomatoes, with reviewers describing it
as, “primarily a film about a woman walking into and out of rooms,” and an
“unbelievable abomination of filmmaking.”
Current Status: Melania’s 6% rating leaves it in the
rarified air of films like 1997’s Mortal Kombat Annihilation (4%),
and 2010’s The Last Airbender (5%).
9. Trump’s Foreign Real Estate Boom
Trump is set to more than triple his foreign properties
during this term, as real estate developers are working on at least 23
Trump-branded projects. These projects are a global feeding frenzy for foreign
governments looking to curry favor with the president. To take only a few
examples, Trump is building a hotel, golf course, and residences in Oman on
property owned by the government. A Saudi real estate firm (with
close ties to the Saudi government) is the Trump Organization’s partner in
various real estate deals, including a new Trump Hotel in Dubai and a
residential tower in Jeddah. In November, the Trump Organization announced
a project in
the Maldives with the same Saudi firm. The very next day, Trump met with Saudi
Crown Prince and Jared Kushner buddy Mohammed bin Salman and announced an “Economic
and Defense Partnership” with the kingdom. Hard to come up with better
reasons why the Constitution prohibits the president from accepting foreign
emoluments. When asked about possible conflicts of interest in the context of
Trump’s then-upcoming trip to the Middle East, Press
Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed that it was “ridiculous that anyone
in this room would even suggest that President Trump is doing anything for his
own benefit.”
Current Status: Each individual property may constitute an
emoluments clause violation. We at Democracy Defenders Fund include leaders of
the team that won multiple emoluments cases against Trump in his first term,
and we ain’t playing. Watch this space!
10. Trump’s D.C. Renovation Racket
In the middle of the longest government shutdown ever, as
federal workers were going without pay and standing in bread lines, Trump
ordered the destruction of the historic East Wing to build a massive, $300
million-plus ballroom. And that’s only one of his Washington, D.C., personal
vanity projects, which also include renaming the Kennedy Center after himself.
When that caused artists and audiences to hemorrhage, Trump suddenly announced
he planned to close the center for supposed renovations. We can’t help but
wonder if it’s to avoid the additional embarrassment of no one showing up.
Trump says he’s raised private money for both these renovations, but the
ballroom donors include corporations that have received billions in federal
contracts – and about a dozen facing federal enforcement actions.
Current Status: We
and partners are litigating the Kennedy Center renaming on behalf of
Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), with the government’s filing due on March 1. nd we
are considering all legal steps to address the closing if it
moves forward. Others are litigating the ballroom case, and initial
signs point to a tough ruling for the White House.
