Wednesday’s Senate hearing on digital assets veered off course when Senator John Kennedy lashed out at former White House ethics lawyer Richard Painter over a BeInCrypto report on crypto-linked campaign donations to a key backer of the GENIUS Act.

However, Painter says the real concern isn’t personal attacks— it’s how legislation like the CLARITY Act risks being shaped by political influence, financial lobbying, and legal maneuvers that could weaken independent oversight over crypto markets.

A Senate Hearing Fallout

Commotion struck the US Senate floor on Wednesday when, halfway through a hearing, Kennedy shockingly referred to Painter as a “whack-job”. 

Painter, invited to deliver expert testimony during a Banking Senate Committee hearing on digital assets, was receiving questions from the congresspeople in attendance about the key testimony he had provided minutes before.

When it was Kennedy’s turn to ask, the Republican Senator from Louisiana referenced an exclusive article BeInCrypto published in May on the $217,000 Senator Kirsten Gillibrand received in campaign contributions from major crypto firms for her Senatorial re-election race in 2024.