Who?
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) — Ranking Member, Agriculture Subcommittee on Commodities, Derivatives, Risk Management & Trade
LISTEN: Laslo & Booker
Ask a Pol asks:
What’d you do to crypto? We heard you Democrats derailed crypto reform, in part because of allegations of Trump family conflicts of interest?
Key Booker:
”I swear I didn’t break it,” Booker laughs. “There’s still a very good bipartisan glidepath to get something done.”
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Caught our ear:
“If you allow this space to go unregulated, it invites all kinds of, not just corruption, but also really dark, sinister activities that we have a chance to curtail and stop,” Sen. Cory Booker exclusively tells Ask a Pol Crypto. “There’s a lot of illicit activity in this space that we should be working really hard for national security purposes to stop.
“In addition to that, for me, the consumer protections are urgent. But I’m in this space — I wanted to work in this space because of the democratizing forces of blockchain. We really are seeing a lot of opportunities being created for people that have been screwed over by the large finance industries in the first place.”
Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), slightly edited for clarity.
TRANSCRIPT: Sen. Cory Booker (2-11-2026)
SCENE: Ask a Pol’s Matt Laslo approaches Sen. Cory Booker as he’s waiting to catch an underground Senate tram from the US Capitol back to his office across the street.
Matt Laslo: “What’d you do to crypto?”
Booker laughs.
Sen. Cory Booker: “I swear I didn’t break it.”
Laslo laughs.
Laslo: “I heard y’all derailed it?”
CB: “No.”
Laslo: “Am I getting — talkin to too many Republicans over here?”
CB: “I think there’s still a very good bipartisan glidepath to get something done.”
Laslo: “Did — what derailed it at the end? Was it the Trump family?”
CB: “I wouldn’t say it’s derailed.”
Laslo: “Was it the Trump family?”
CB: “I mean, clearly there’s going to have to be ethics rules there. I think the Wall Street Journal’s story about the crypto sheikh is an obvious example of why it is so unethical not to have any kind of ethics…”
ICYMI — WSJ piece Booker mentions
CB: “…but I hear from the other side that they’re willing to work with us on that, so I still think this has a bipartisan pathway to getting done. And I’m going to be relentless in working to get it done.”
Laslo: “Are you guys hearing more from like the Coinbases of the world or the regulators themselves?”
CB: “I hear from every interested party…”
Laslo: “Yeah?”
CB: “…from the regulators to consumer advocates, to industry, to consumers themselves. This is obviously something that there’s a chorus of people that want it done and done right.”
Laslo: “Yeah?”
CB: “And so that’s one of the reasons why it takes a lot of my time and energy, folks.”
Laslo: “So you don’t think any of these entities are now like, ‘we’re better off if we wait till after the election?’”
CB: “I think if you allow this space to go unregulated, it invites all kinds of, not just corruption, but also really dark, sinister activities that we have a chance to curtail and stop.”
Laslo: “Yeah?”
CB: “There’s a lot of illicit activity in this space that we should be working really hard for national security purposes to stop.”
Laslo: “Yeah?”
CB: “In addition to that, for me, the consumer protections are urgent. But I’m in this space — I wanted to work in this space because of the democratizing forces of blockchain. We really are seeing a lot of opportunities being created for people that have been screwed over by the large finance industries in the first place.”
Booker hops the tram, as Laslo heads back to the Capitol.
What should we ask at the State of the Union?
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