{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/senator-blumenthal-week-in-review-7/24/2026-7/31/2026", "Senator Blumenthal: Week in Review 7/24/2026-7/31/2026", "2026-07-31", "2026", "2026-07", "Democrat", "Senate", "CT", "Richard Blumenthal", "B001277", "www.blumenthal.senate.gov", "blumenthal", "https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press", "scraper", "Combatting Russia\u2019s Murderous Invasion of Ukraine\n\n[WASHINGTON, D.C.] \u2013 U. S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) along with U.S. Senators Darline Graham (R-SC), Katie Britt (R-AL), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Jim Risch (R-ID) announced a bipartisan agreement on legislation to hold major purchasers of Russian oil and gas accountable for supporting Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine and extend sanctions that restrict funding for Iran\u2019s energy and weapons sectors.\n\n\u201cWe are proud to announce an agreement on legislation to stop purchasers of Russian oil and gas from fueling Putin\u2019s war machine and to continue restricting the Iranian regime\u2019s ability to support terrorism and build its nuclear program,\u201d the senators said. \u201cThere is no greater way to honor Senator Graham\u2019s legacy than to move forward with this bipartisan agreement, and we look forward to today\u2019s vote.\u201d\n\nBlumenthal hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a meeting with supporters of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act. The meeting took place ahead of a Senate vote to move forward with the legislation\u2014which passed in an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 86-12.\n\n\u201cWe honored Senator Graham earlier today here in the Rotunda, but our real tribute was moving ahead with legislation he championed to impose scorching tariffs & sanctions on purchasers of Russian oil to stop them from fueling Putin\u2019s war machine. I know he would be jubilant over this vote. And I also know that he wouldn\u2019t rest until the Russia Sanctions bill is truly over the finish line & signed into law\u2014so neither will we,\u201d said Blumenthal.\n\nBlumental held a media availability with the bipartisan leaders of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act after the vote to advance the legislation.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s been a rollercoaster of a day emotionally\u2014the sadness of saying farewell to our great friend who has been so instrumental in this fight; the exhilaration now of a really solid step forward, partly in tribute to him; and the visit by President Zelenskyy showing us Ukraine is turning the tide,\u201d said Blumenthal at the media availability. \u201cUkraine\u2019s fight is our fight. This vote is a step forward, we still have a path we have to travel\u2014but it is a profoundly solid vote for Ukraine showing that the American people are on Ukraine\u2019s side, and we will stand with Ukraine.\u201d\n\nVideo of the full media availability is available here.\n\nThe Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 would impose primary and secondary sanctions against Russia and actors supporting Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine. The sanctions target Russian officials, oligarchs, their family members, foreign persons, and Russian banks and financial institutions, as well as the Russian Shadow Fleet. The legislation also allows the President to impose targeted tariffs on imported goods from countries that buy the vast majority of Russian oil or gas, and enable Russian sanctions evasion. The bill limits these tariffs to the five largest importers of Russian crude oil or gas, and top five countries that aid Russia\u2019s energy sanctions evasion. The bill also includes a provision to prevent a lapse in sanction authority that restricts funding for Iran\u2019s energy and weapons sectors.\n\nBlumenthal joined CNN\u2019s Anderson Cooper to discuss his meeting with Zelenskyy and the need to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia.\n\nSlamming Trump\u2019s Crypto Corruption\n\nBlumenthal, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), released the testimonies of three investors in Donald Trump\u2019s crypto schemes who lost tens of thousands of dollars while the President made record-breaking profits. The individuals\u2014each of whom requested anonymity\u2014sat for interviews with PSI Minority staff during which they detailed their understanding of the President\u2019s meme coin projects and experience in having their investments in the $TRUMP and $MELANIA coins nearly wiped out.\n\nA U.S. veteran lost $60,000 of the $70,000 he had invested in the $TRUMP and $MELANIA coins. He told PSI Minority staff, \u201cWhen he launched the $TRUMP coin, I thought that it was not real, but then I saw that it was on his official Twitter. So, in January, I invested about $1000. Then he started tweeting about it again, so I thought it was legitimate. This is the president so I thought this was the biggest it could get. And like any other trading, you want to get in early. So, I put more money in.\u201d\n\nA college student from Georgia told PSI Minority staff that he watched the $TRUMP and $MELANIA coins that he invested in rapidly decrease in value: \u201c[I]n that collapse so many people lost money, the ones that were not the insiders. But the insiders made out on a lot of transaction fees and whatever they made.\u201d\n\nAn experienced meme coin trader from Colorado told PSI Minority staff, \u201cThe launch of the $TRUMP token, which was kicked off by Trump\u2019s social media posts, resulted in high volume and price run-up. Then it was followed shortly afterward by the $MELANIA token. This raised many questions for me, since the timing appeared to divert attention and capital from one token to the other. Whether that was intentional or simply the result of market dynamics is impossible for me to know. However, the sequence gave the appearance of benefiting certain market participants more than ordinary investors\u2026 I cannot say who was responsible or what their motivations were, but from an outside perspective, the market did not appear to operate on a level playing field.\u201d\n\nThese testimonies underscore how the President used crypto to more efficiently pursue his own self-interest and demonstrate why the current status quo of the crypto industry is unacceptable. The individuals\u2019 testimonies are available here.\n\nBlumenthal released their testimonies in conjunction with a public forum on Trump\u2019s Crypto Corruption, convened alongside U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), a senior member of the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee.\n\nBlumenthal delivered an opening statement at the forum on Donald Trump\u2019s self-enrichment crypto schemes, as well as risks the Clarity Act presents without clear ethics standards and any meaningful measures to protect consumers and our national security.\n\n\u201cWhen most presidents are going through personnel decisions and their vision for the future and helping to lead the country into a new administration, Donald Trump had a different priority, namely cashing in. Trump launched and promoted what he called the \u2018official Trump cryptocurrency,\u2019 a meme coin. It had no inherent value. It was his face and identity. $TRUMP coin was effectively a pump-and-dump scheme,\u201d Blumenthal said at the forum.\n\nAt the forum, Blumenthal released the testimonies of three Americans who lost tens of thousands of dollars after investing in $TRUMP and $MELANIA coins: \u201cIn fact, we\u2019ve spoken to three investors who bought the $TRUMP coin believing it was a worthwhile investment because it had the endorsement of the President of the United States\u2026They told us about how his approval earned their trust, and they also told us about how quickly they lost almost everything they had invested.\u201d\n\nIn a recorded video, a U.S. veteran who invested in $TRUMP and $MELANIA coins and who requested to remain anonymous said: \u201c[T]he reality was that there were scams. Within a few days, I had lost about $10,000 under $TRUMP coin and $60,000 on the $MELANIA coin. I couldn\u2019t believe it. I trusted Trump that these were legitimate, and they weren\u2019t. I can\u2019t believe something like this would happen.\u201d\n\nBlumenthal continued, \u201cPresident Trump, who famously once called Bitcoin a scam, has not only used it to enrich himself, but he\u2019s also sold out the American people. He\u2019s enriched his family, his sons, his insider friends, his campaign donors, and some of them, for example, Steve Witkoff, are also in the national news and in positions of responsibility.\u201d\n\nBlumenthal continued, pointing to the President\u2019s efforts to advance the Clarity Act without clear ethics standards: \u201cAs a result of all this personal success, the President is now fiercely committed to protecting the crypto industry. This kind of exploitation took advantage of weaknesses in the current law. The President is taking a strong stand against reforms that would eliminate the weaknesses and loopholes that he exploited\u2014and others are doing right now\u2014to perpetrate the same kind of fraud on the same kind of innocent victims across the United States.\u201d\n\nBlumenthal concluded by calling for reforms to the Clarity Act to protect consumers, citing written testimony received by PSI Minority staff: \u201cEarlier today, we received written testimony from New York Attorney General Letitia James, and she writes, \u2018Clarity seeks to interfere with and preempt states\u2019 investor protection laws, as well as dilute our ability to prosecute fraud. This is a mistake.\u2019\u201d\n\nA video of Blumenthal\u2019s opening statement is available here.\n\nBlumenthal further highlighted Trump\u2019s crypto corruption on Twitter/X.\n\n\u201cTrump\u2019s crypto corruption has costs\u2014losses of $3.8 billion for about 1 million Americans, while he made $1.4 billion. His pump & dump schemes enriched his campaign donors & friends as well as himself,\u201d wrote Blumenthal with an accompanying video on Twitter/X.\n\n\u201cTrump is exploiting legal loopholes & enforcement weaknesses that cry out for reform\u2014real safeguards, not smokescreen steps in the Clarity Act. For starters, require Trump & his family & all officials to divest all digital assets,\u201d wrote Blumenthal with an accompanying video on Twitter/X.\n\nThe forum included testimony from author and filmmaker, Ben McKenzie; crypto scam victim, Lori Flowers; former Chief of the SEC Office of Internet Enforcement, John Reed Stark; Chief Counsel for Ethics and Anticorruption at Democracy Defenders Action, Virginia Canter; and Deputy Executive Director of Transparency International U.S., Scott Greytak.\n\nMcKenzie testified at the forum: \u201cIt is timely that we are here today as Congress considers new legislation, the Clarity Act, to regulate the crypto sector. I believe we are at a point of crisis when it comes to crypto\u2019s influence over our legislative process. Recent reporting from just last week reveals a foreign company that issues a cryptocurrency used by major criminal organizations appears to have shaped Trump\u2019s signature piece of legislation, the GENIUS Act, while at the same time forging deep financial relationships with members of the executive branch. When it comes to crypto crimes, the call is coming from inside the White House.\u201d\n\nVideo of McKenzie\u2019s testimony is available here. Written testimony is available here.\n\nBlumenthal further highlighted McKenzie\u2019s testimony on Twitter/X.\n\n\u201cBen McKenzie maps out the potential crypto crimes of Trump & members of his Executive Branch\u2014specifically how they have benefited from their financial ties to the shady foreign operator Tether,\u201d wrote Blumenthal with an accompanying video on Twitter/X.\n\nFlowers said at the forum, \u201cCrypto is the currency of choice for crooks. It enabled transnational criminals to steal my money in a way that made recovery impossible. It\u2019s a friction-free way to drain the bank accounts of U.S. Citizens and, interestingly, lined the pockets of many members and family members of this administration. It\u2019s no wonder the crypto bros are rooting for the Clarity Act. The financial consequences of my crypto-enabled scam continue to be devastating.\u201d\n\nVideo of Flowers\u2019s testimony is available here. Written testimony is available here.\n\nStark underscored the far-reaching consequences of lax crypto enforcement: \u201cCrypto has created a sanctions evasion superhighway, and now every sanctioned drone and missile program topped up in stablecoins is an externality. We\u2019re sanctioning Iran while deregulating the crypto they use to buy the drones and the weapons that kill American soldiers. That\u2019s like stepping into the UFC octagon and handing your opponent brass knuckles between rounds.\u201d\n\nVideo of Stark\u2019s testimony is available here. Written testimony is available here.\n\nCanter highlighted loopholes in the current version of the Clarity Act that would allow Donald Trump to continue to profit while still in office: \u201cUnfortunately, the proposed language is fundamentally flawed as it fails to fully address the President\u2019s massive financial interests and conflicts of interest. As you\u2019ve indicated, President Trump just reported receiving $1.4 billion in crypto revenue last year, and he has built a portfolio of crypto ventures valued at as high as $7 billion. Entities backed by the Emirati royal family have directed roughly $2.5 billion to the President\u2019s crypto ventures, most prominently through an investment in Binance, which was settled in the USD1 stablecoin. That deal is expected to generate roughly $80 million a year for the President\u2019s company. These conflicts of interest have no precedent in the history of the presidency.\u201d\n\nVideo of Canter\u2019s testimony is available here. Written testimony is available here.\n\nGreytak also called for clear ethics standards in the Clarity Act, \u201cThis conversation isn\u2019t\u2014and needn\u2019t be\u2014about cryptocurrency being inherently good or bad. It is about what happens when a president and his family make extraordinary amounts of money from an industry at the same time that the President\u2019s administration shapes, implements, and enforces the rules that will determine that industry\u2019s value. That conflict is concrete. It is ongoing, and it is unprecedented in scale. And it means that unless the Clarity Act includes comprehensive and enforceable ethics rules going forward, every major decision by the federal government affecting this industry will be accompanied by the same question: is this good policy, or is it just good for the President\u2019s bottom line?\u201d\n\nVideo of Greytak\u2019s testimony is available here. Written testimony is available here.\n\nA full recording of the forum is available here. Written testimony submitted by New York Attorney General Letitia James is available here.\n\nOn the Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee\n\nRepublican leadership blocked Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal\u2019s attempt to pass an amended version of the Take Care of America\u2019s Veterans Act. Blumenthal\u2019s legislation would replace the controversial Republican proposal to cut veterans\u2019 benefits with an alternative proposal to cover the costs of the legislation with a small portion of the $75 billion in unobligated and unspent funds appropriated to the Department of Defense in H.R. 1.\n\nBlumenthal emphasized his proposal\u2019s bipartisan support: \u201cIt would utilize unspent Department of Defense funds from H.R.1, the so-called Big Beautiful Bill, to cover the entire cost of the bill. It\u2019s the only offset proposal for the Take Care of Veterans Act that has garnered bipartisan support, and it is the one that doesn\u2019t pit some veterans against other veterans\u2026More than $75 billion of the Department of Defense funds in H.R. - a bill signed into law more than one year ago - remain unspent and unobligated. And CBO has confirmed, absolutely confirmed, enactment of my proposal prior to the Department\u2019s obligation of those funds would provide the savings we need.\u201d\n\nBlumenthal objected to the Republican proposal to cut benefits for more than one million veterans who are currently eligible to receive benefits for tinnitus or sleep apnea: \u201cThese disabilities are not hypothetical or abstract. They're real, and they do disable people. And often, they are the result directly from combat or training\u2026It may seem like an abstract principle, but to veterans who would lose sleep apnea and tinnitus benefits, it's a big deal. In fact, it can be a life-changing deal\u2026We are creating a new generation of combat-injured veterans. It is unconscionable to claim that we can only care for them by forcing other veterans to sacrifice.\u201d\n\nBlumenthal concluded by calling on his colleagues to abandon these cuts: \u201cWe need to do the right thing. Veterans deserve meaningful results from a grateful nation, and they should never be handed an invoice when the costs of war come due.\u201d\n\nLast month, House Republicans pull a planned vote on the Take Care of America\u2019s Veterans Act, following a bipartisan House vote to replace the Republican benefit cuts with Blumenthal\u2019s proposal to utilize unobligated Department of Defense funds. Congressional Democrats and many Veterans Service Organizations have publicly opposed the Republican funding proposal included in the Take Care of America\u2019s Veterans Act.\n\nThe Senator\u2019s amended legislation would also have replaced the watered-down version of the Major Richard Star Act currently included in the Take Care of America\u2019s Veterans Act with the Blumenthal-authored version of the legislation that fully repeals the wounded veteran tax.\n\nA video is available here.\n\nBlumenthal further slammed his Republican colleagues for blocking his attempt to ensure veterans receive the full benefits they deserve on Twitter/X.\n\n\u201cRepublicans want unprecedented cuts to veterans\u2019 benefits. On the floor, I urged a new alternative\u2014use unspent DOD funds to provide for the Major Richard Star Act. Sadly, Republicans rejected it,\u201d wrote Blumenthal with an accompanying video on Twitter/X.\n\nDemanding Answers on Cyclospora Outbreak\n\nBlumenthal demanded answers from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Taylor Farms about the record-breaking cyclosporiasis outbreak and the backroom dealing by the Trump Administration that may have delayed the government\u2019s response to this ongoing public health crisis.\n\nIn letters sent to FDA Acting Commissioner Kyle Diamantas and Taylor Farms Chief Executive Officer Bruce Taylor, Blumenthal sought records and information about the ongoing investigation into the outbreak and the influence of Taylor Farms on staffing and program cuts at the agency.\n\n\u201cRecent reporting indicates that Taylor Farms\u2014which last year donated $1 million to a political action committee supporting President Trump\u2014contacted the White House seeking to delay the recall of its tainted produce, and that the White House brought officials from the FDA onto the call. According to former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, there is no precedent for such intervention from the White House in the agency\u2019s management of food safety recalls,\u201d Blumenthal wrote in a letter to Diamantas.\n\nBlumenthal continued, \u201cThis was not the first time that Taylor Farms has sought to use political connections to influence regulation of the industry in which it operates: Since the beginning of the second Trump Administration, the company has spent $810,000 on lobbying regarding \u2018regulation of food safety.\u2019\u201d\n\nBlumental raised concerns regarding the Administration\u2019s lacking response and shifting information about the outbreak: \u201cAccording to FDA, the current cyclosporiasis outbreak started on May 17, 2026, but the agency did not issue a public notice about it until July 17, 2026, when it announced that Taylor Farms would voluntarily remove all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico. On July 19, 2026, FDA provided an update claiming the sample collected from Taylor Farms was a false positive. When Taylor Farms then announced that the agency had \u2018apologized\u2019 for linking its produce to the outbreak, FDA quickly denied that it had done any such thing. Shortly thereafter, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of the Department of Health and Human Services said the outbreak was \u2018under control\u2019 even as it continued to infect thousands of people and expand into additional states.\u201d\n\nPointing to the Trump Administration\u2019s cuts to federal food safety programs, including those designed to actively monitor foodborne outbreaks of cyclospora, Blumenthal concluded, \u201cThe severity of the outbreak indicates that, thanks to Trump Administration policies, FDA is simply unprepared to handle an outbreak of foodborne illness at this scale.\u201d\n\nThe full text of Blumenthal\u2019s letter to Diamantas is available here\n\nBlumenthal Bulletin\n\nBlumenthal raised concerns about the Trump Administration directing tax payer dollars toward critical mining companies linked to the Trump and Lutnick families.\n\nBlumenthal sounded the alarm on immigration detainee abuse at a public forum.\n\nBlumenthal released a statement on the $76.6 billion contract for Electric Boat to produce 14 additional Columbia and Virginia Class Submarines.\n\nBlumenthal introduced the Food Labeling Modernization Act.\n\nBlumenthal attended Hundred Crown Foundation\u2019s first annual community celebration in Bridgeport\u2019s Hollow neighborhood.\n\nBlumenthal joined Walter Lockett for a ceremony honoring him with a street named after him in Bridgeport.\n\nBlumenthal joined ConnCAT and ConnCORP for a backpack giveaway in Hamden.\n\nBlumenthal attended a Bridgeport block party celebrating Colombian heritage and culture.\n\nBlumenthal attended a Stamford back-to-school event benefiting hundreds of kids with clothes, books, supplies, and more.\n\nBlumenthal celebrated Cape Verde Day in Bridgeport.\n\n-30-", 1, "2026-08-01T07:27:26Z", "2026-08-01T07:28:22Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/senator-blumenthal-week-in-review-7/24/2026-7/31/2026"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.739336807280779, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}