senator richard blumenthal asked tether and consulting firm nxum for records on october 22, with a november 6 deadline. reports say tether paid nxum $6.3m, starting while bo hines, who allegedly owned a third of nxum, helped shape white house stablecoin policy. hines now runs usa₮, tether's u.s. stablecoin, which anchorage digital bank issues. so the risk is to usa₮'s reputation and regulator ties before the occ rules start on january 18, 2027. usdt stayed near $1. this is a minority inquiry with no enforcement order. tether says an outside review found no wrongdoing, and nxum denies that hines was involved while in government.