Senators Seek Answers on Tether Loan Linked to Lutnick Sale

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden asked Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on April 29 to explain whether a loan from stablecoin issuer Tether to a trust benefiting his four children helped finance his October sale of a majority of his Cantor Fitzgerald stake. The senators cited reporting that the trust that took the loan holds a majority of Cantor’s equity and that the loan was secured by “all assets” in the trust.

In their letter, the senators requested whether Tether’s loan financed the divestiture; whether Lutnick had any role in procuring, soliciting or negotiating the loan; the loan’s size and terms; and whether Lutnick had any contact with Tether or its executives since becoming Commerce Secretary.

Lutnick served as chairman and chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald before joining the Commerce Department. Cantor manages U.S. Treasury securities that are part of the reserves backing USDT, the dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Tether. Lutnick agreed to divest his stake when he became Commerce Secretary in February 2025 and completed that divestiture in October 2025.

The senators wrote, “If reports of this loan are accurate, it would raise serious questions about your relationship with Tether and the company’s influence on your policy decisions,” and added, “We want to ensure that Tether has not sought to bribe or otherwise exert control or influence over you.”

At the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2024, Lutnick praised Tether, telling an audience, “There’s a company that I like called Tether. From what we’ve seen, and we did a lot of work, they have the money they say they have.”

The Department of Commerce and Tether did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The senators described the inquiry as focused on a specific set of facts and contacts that could relate to potential conflicts between Lutnick’s prior business ties and his cabinet responsibilities overseeing commercial policy.