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Steve Bannon and Boris Epshteyn, an advisor to President Donald Trump, were named in a proposed class action lawsuit over their promotion of the Let’s Go Brandon memecoin, according to a Bloomberg Law report on Friday.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday, claims that Bannon, Epshteyn, and other defendants knowingly and falsely promoted the memecoin, later rebranded to Patriot Pay, as decentralized despite mechanisms giving operators control over the token’s smart contacts, governance, and trading — including an ability to freeze accounts, according to the suit.
Plaintiff Andrew Barr, on behalf of the proposed class of purchasers, further alleges that Bannon and Epshteyn had implicitly and explicitly “entered into a strategic partnership with the project’s founders and would lend their support and influence to help the Token succeed.”
“Defendants deliberately targeted a politically aligned and deeply loyal audience — individuals who trusted Defendants’ judgment, motives, and commitment to shared values — and encouraged them to invest in the Token as a means of participating in a broader movement,” the suit reads.
The lawsuit also argues the memecoin — named after the once-cryptic conservative rallying call “Let’s go, Brandon!,” better understood by its “FJB” ticker that is short for “F**k Joe Biden” — was an unregistered security.
“Defendants’ conduct was particularly insidious because it exploited that trust to induce purchases of an unregistered, highly speculative asset under the guise of financial independence and community membership,” the plaintiffs argue.
Bannon and Epshteyn started promoting the project in late 2021, amid a booming crypto market. Allegedly, a promotional announcement in December on Bannon’s “War Room” podcast drove the token up “267% in a single day.” The token launched on Ethereum and was tradeable via Uniswap.
The lawsuit argues Bannon and Epshteyn “dramatically reduced their promotional efforts” of the project throughout 2022, and that co-defendant Sarah Abdul Williams announced the two MAGA-insiders would be stepping down in 2023.
