Richard Blumenthal has asked Tether and Nxum Group to provide records about millions of dollars paid to the consulting firm while its co-founder, Bo Hines, was serving as a White House official responsible for digital-asset policy. Blumenthal, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, sent separate letters on Oct. 22 to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino and Nxum CEO Todd Hines, Bo Hines’ father.
The letters cite a reported May 2025 agreement under which Tether would pay Nxum $415,000 a month for strategic branding and public-affairs work. More than $6 million reportedly flowed to Nxum. The senator says Hines sought changes that would give Tether more time to comply with regulation and allow it to continue operating outside the United States.
Hines left the White House in August 2025. Tether announced on Aug. 19 that it had hired him as a strategic adviser for digital assets and U.S. Strategy; he now leads the company’s U.S. Tether said external counsel had previously conducted an internal investigation and found no evidence of wrongdoing. Ardoino separately criticized Blumenthal’s broader work, saying the senator had overlooked important information and publicized a report before giving Tether an opportunity to respond. The Senate requests are information demands from the subcommittee’s minority and do not themselves establish that any law was violated.