‘Corruption Couldn’t Be More Obvious’: Trump Stacks Key Panel With Crypto and Gambling CEOs
“President Trump has given up on caring about protecting working class Americans and has given the keys to our economy to billionaire scammers.”
Cryptocurrency coins, including the $Trump meme coin and bitcoin, seen in a photo illustration in Brussels, Belgium, on February 8, 2026.
(Photo by Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Brad Reed
Feb 13, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
Alarms are being raised amid reports that President Donald Trump is stacking a key regulatory committee with CEOs of online prediction markets, cryptocurrency firms, and sports betting apps.
As reported on Thursday by the right-wing Daily Wire, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is launching a new initiative called the Innovation Advisory Committee, which CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said would be tasked with ensuring “the CFTC’s decisions reflect market realities so the agency can future-proof its markets and develop clear rules of the road for the Golden Age of American Financial Markets.”
Among the members of the committee are Tarek Mansour, CEO of online betting market Kalshi; Brian Armstrong, CEO of cryptocurrency hub Coinbase; Christian Genetski, president of the FanDuel sports betting app; and Matt Kalish, president of sports betting app DraftKings North America.
Emily Peterson-Cassin, education fund policy director at Demand Progress, said the committee’s composition has deeply concerning implications for the future of the US economy.
“The corruption couldn’t be more obvious,” said Peterson-Cassin. “It’s hard to see the CTFC succeeding at its mission to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis when it is influenced from the inside by a rogues’ gallery of billionaire CEOs responsible for monetizing and gamifying virtually every aspect of everyday life.”
Peterson-Cassin added that the latest move shows that “President Trump has given up on caring about protecting working class Americans and has given the keys to our economy to billionaire scammers.”
The creation of the Innovation Advisory Committee wasn’t the only news made by CFTC this week, as Barron’s reported on Monday that the commission’s enforcement division based in Chicago has now been completely gutted, as its entire litigation team has either resigned or been laid off.
One laid-off former CFTC attorney told Barron’s that the gutting of the office will make it much easier for financial scammers to rip off Americans.
“If I was a different person I would launch a crypto scam right now,” said the attorney, “because there’s no cops on the beat.”
“President Trump has given up on caring about protecting working class Americans and has given the keys to our economy to billionaire scammers.”
Cryptocurrency coins, including the $Trump meme coin and bitcoin, seen in a photo illustration in Brussels, Belgium, on February 8, 2026.
(Photo by Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Brad Reed
Feb 13, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
Alarms are being raised amid reports that President Donald Trump is stacking a key regulatory committee with CEOs of online prediction markets, cryptocurrency firms, and sports betting apps.
As reported on Thursday by the right-wing Daily Wire, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is launching a new initiative called the Innovation Advisory Committee, which CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said would be tasked with ensuring “the CFTC’s decisions reflect market realities so the agency can future-proof its markets and develop clear rules of the road for the Golden Age of American Financial Markets.”
Among the members of the committee are Tarek Mansour, CEO of online betting market Kalshi; Brian Armstrong, CEO of cryptocurrency hub Coinbase; Christian Genetski, president of the FanDuel sports betting app; and Matt Kalish, president of sports betting app DraftKings North America.
Emily Peterson-Cassin, education fund policy director at Demand Progress, said the committee’s composition has deeply concerning implications for the future of the US economy.
“The corruption couldn’t be more obvious,” said Peterson-Cassin. “It’s hard to see the CTFC succeeding at its mission to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis when it is influenced from the inside by a rogues’ gallery of billionaire CEOs responsible for monetizing and gamifying virtually every aspect of everyday life.”
Peterson-Cassin added that the latest move shows that “President Trump has given up on caring about protecting working class Americans and has given the keys to our economy to billionaire scammers.”
The creation of the Innovation Advisory Committee wasn’t the only news made by CFTC this week, as Barron’s reported on Monday that the commission’s enforcement division based in Chicago has now been completely gutted, as its entire litigation team has either resigned or been laid off.
One laid-off former CFTC attorney told Barron’s that the gutting of the office will make it much easier for financial scammers to rip off Americans.
“If I was a different person I would launch a crypto scam right now,” said the attorney, “because there’s no cops on the beat.”
“Every antitrust case in front of the Trump Justice Department now reeks of double-dealing,” said Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
US Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) speaks during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on February 5, 2026.
(Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Jake Johnson
Feb 13, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
US Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Thursday raised alarm over what she described as the highly suspicious circumstances surrounding Gail Slater’s ouster as the Trump administration’s top antitrust official, a move that was cheered by Wall Street investors and lobbyists working to shield corporate monopolists.
“It looks like corruption,” Warren (D-Mass.) said in a statement after Slater announced her departure on Thursday following a behind-the-scenes power struggle with pro-corporate Trump officials. “A small army of MAGA-aligned lawyers and lobbyists have been trying to sell off merger approvals that will increase prices and harm innovation to the highest bidder.”
‘Pure Corruption Reigns’ at Trump DOJ as Top Antitrust Official Gail Slater Ousted
“Every antitrust case in front of the Trump Justice Department now reeks of double-dealing,” the senator added, noting that Live Nation—the owner of Ticketmaster—saw its stock price surge following news of Slater’s removal.
“Americans’ top concern is affordability, but one of Trump’s few bipartisan-supported nominees—the top law enforcement official responsible for stopping illegal monopolies and protecting American consumers—was just ousted,” said Warren. “Congress has a responsibility to unearth exactly what happened and hold the Trump administration accountable.”
In recent weeks, Live Nation has been in talks with top Justice Department officials to avoid an antitrust trial that’s supposed to begin next month. The negotiations have reportedly bypassed the DOJ antitrust division previously headed by Slater, who was once viewed as the leader of a supposedly burgeoning “MAGA antitrust movement” but was abandoned by her top ally within the Trump administration, Vice President JD Vance, and forced out.
Influence peddlers reportedly on Live Nation’s payroll include Mike Davis—who welcomed Slater’s departure in a post on social media—and Kellyanne Conway, a former adviser to President Donald Trump. The American Prospect noted that Davis “reportedly earned a $1 million ‘success fee’ for getting DOJ to drop its challenge to the $14 billion Hewlett Packard Enterprise-Juniper Networks merger,” a settlement in which Attorney General Pam Bondi’s chief of staff overruled Slater.
“Davis also earned at least $1 million by persuading the Justice Department to allow a merger between Compass and Anywhere Real Estate, the two largest real estate brokerages by volume in 2024, despite objections from antitrust division attorneys,” according to the Prospect.
One of Slater’s deputies who was fired from the antitrust division last year later alleged that lobbyists are effectively dictating antitrust policy at the DOJ under Bondi’s leadership.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), the former chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights, said Thursday that Slater’s removal represents “a major loss for bipartisan antitrust enforcement.”
“She received significant bipartisan support in the Senate and has continued important cases brought by administrations of both parties, including winning a landmark monopolization case against Google and preparing the vital case to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster for trial next month,” said Klobuchar. “Her departure raises significant concerns about this administration’s commitment to enforcing the antitrust laws for the betterment of consumers and small businesses, including seeing through its cases against monopolies.”
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