Expert flags curious timing of Trump purge as 'crypto scheme' investors lose billions
President Donald Trump's dismantling of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is almost certainly illegal under the separation of powers — but,
wrote former Labor Secretary Robert Reich in a lengthy post to Facebook, even beyond that, the timing of the move raises suspicions.
The bureau is the only federal agency solely tasked with policing financial misconduct against banks and other monetary institutions against small-time consumers.
And there might be a reason Trump doesn't want that kind of oversight, wrote Reich.
"Thousands of investors in Trump’s crypto scheme lost $2 billion in just weeks while the Trump Organization racked up $100 million in trading fees," wrote Reich. "Just so happens that the CFPB, which Trump is trying to kill, recently announced new regulations for the crypto industry."
Right around the time of Trump's inauguration, a series of Trump-themed crypto coins became available, which were snatched up by supporters and generated large amounts of value. After the hype faded, many of those same supporters raged that they were
taken for a ride.
Reich is not the only one to suspect ulterior motives in the crippling of CFPB.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), the brainchild behind the agency in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis,
suggested this week that tech billionaire Elon Musk, who publicly celebrated as his unelected software engineer allies summarily shut down the bureau, doesn't want the agency around to police his plans to add a financial transactions feature to his X platform, formerly Twitter.
