Senator Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, sent a letter on Thursday to Tether and Nxum Group, a consulting firm co-founded by Bo Hines, demanding an explanation regarding payments Tether made to Hines' company. Blumenthal alleged that the terms and nature of the business relationship between Tether, Nxum, and Bo Hines were "highly unusual," raising "troubling ethical and legal questions" and suggesting that Tether may have been "well aware of the illegality and impropriety of payments to an official directly involved in crafting cryptocurrency legislation (critical to Tether's business) while serving in the White House." This follows a Wall Street Journal report that Nxum received substantial consulting fees from Tether while Hines was still advising the Donald Trump administration on crypto policy.