Fired Trump Lawyer Rehired to Defend Family Crypto Scheme Amid Fraud Allegations

The Trump family has quietly rehired William Burck, the conservative attorney they fired last year for representing Harvard University in a lawsuit against the Trump administration, to defend their embattled crypto venture World Liberty Financial. According to a recent court filing in the Northern District of California, Burck is now outside counsel for the Trump family’s crypto project, which is under fire for conflicts of interest and investor disputes.

Burck’s previous firing came after it was revealed he was working for Harvard when the university sued the administration over the freezing of $2.2 billion in federal funding. Eric Trump, who co-founded World Liberty Financial, said Burck’s work for Harvard was a conflict and claimed President Trump demanded the lawyer be “gotten rid of ASAP.” Now, Burck’s return signals how the Trump family continues to rely on loyal legal operatives to shield their questionable enterprises.

World Liberty Financial is no ordinary startup. Founded by Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Zach Witkoff—the son of a special envoy—this crypto venture was launched just before Trump’s 2024 re-election bid. The project has been dogged by allegations of pay-to-play deals and using token sales to sell political favors, exploiting the presidency for private enrichment through unregulated financial instruments.

The latest legal headache comes from billionaire investor Justin Sun, an early backer and Trump supporter, who filed a lawsuit accusing World Liberty Financial of an “illegal scheme” that froze his tokens and caused “hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.” Sun alleges the company pressured him to commit hundreds of millions more to an underperforming stablecoin while restricting his ability to sell his tokens.

Sun’s legal team, from Keker Van Nest & Peters, includes partners who have openly criticized President Trump’s punitive tactics against lawyers representing his opponents. Robert Van Nest, one of Sun’s attorneys, has called on other firms to resist the White House’s campaign of intimidation against legal professionals.

Eric Trump dismissed Sun’s lawsuit as “ridiculous” on social media, but the case underscores the Trump family’s pattern of leveraging political power for personal gain, often at the expense of investors and the public trust.

This latest episode adds to the growing body of evidence that the Trump family’s business dealings remain deeply entangled with their political ambitions, raising urgent questions about corruption, accountability, and the rule of law.

Case reference: Sun et al v. World Liberty Financial LLC, N.D. Cal., 3:26-cv-03360-JD, filed April 30, 2026.

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