Senator Blasts Trump's AG Pick Over Binance Pardon and Crypto Crimes

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Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche faced sharp criticism Wednesday over the Justice Department’s handling of crypto-related crimes as he appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a hearing on his nomination to lead the agency. The strongest criticism came from Senator Dick Durbin, the committee’s ranking Democrat, who used part of his opening statement to accuse Blanche of weakening federal crypto enforcement. Durbin said Blanche had been involved in “dismantling DoJ’s enforcement team and shutting down ongoing criminal investigations of the crypto industry.” Blanche reportedly played a central role in disbanding the Justice Department’s crypto enforcement unit in April 2025 while serving as deputy attorney general. The move has become a flashpoint in the confirmation process because it sits inside a wider debate over how aggressively federal prosecutors should pursue crypto exchanges, developers, token issuers, and intermediaries accused of enabling illicit finance. The hearing also tied crypto enforcement to broader questions about conflicts of interest , presidential influence, and the direction of financial crime policy under President Donald Trump. For Democrats, the Justice Department’s shift is not only a legal issue. It is being framed as part of a wider rollback that could benefit politically connected crypto businesses. Durbin argued that Blanche’s order dismantling the crypto unit allowed Trump to earn $1.4 billion from industry-related ties, including his family’s business World Liberty Financial . He also accused former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao of helping “broker a deal to channel $2 billion” into World Liberty, which Durbin linked to a later presidential pardon. Zhao agreed in 2023 to plead guilty to one felony charge tied to Binance’s anti-money laundering regime. His case has remained politically sensitive because Binance had been one of the most visible targets of U.S. crypto enforcement, and any move affecting Zhao or the exchange carries broader implications for how the government treats major platforms. Durbin’s most pointed line captured the political tone of the hearing. “Every smarmy, suspect deal in this administration has cryptocurrency behind the curtain,” he said. The criticism puts Blanche in a difficult position. He must defend a Justice Department policy shift that crypto firms view as overdue restraint, while also answering lawmakers who see the same shift as selective leniency for an industry with growing ties to the Trump orbit. The hearing shows that crypto enforcement has become a confirmation issue at the highest levels of the Justice Department. A lighter prosecutorial approach may reduce legal risk for parts of the industry, but it also raises the chance of congressional pushback and politicized oversight. Blanche has already signaled a different approach to crypto cases. He was behind a 2025 memo described as ending “regulation by prosecution” in the crypto industry, a phrase used by industry advocates to criticize enforcement actions that they say create rules through lawsuits rather than formal rulemaking. The shift is especially important for blockchain developers. Blanche told crypto holders after taking over as acting attorney general that officials would not pursue cases against software developers who were not responsible for illicit activity on platforms. “[I]f you are developing software, if you are a coder, if you are part of that process and you are not the third-party user, and you are not helping and knowing the third party is using what you developed to commit crimes, you are not going to be investigated and not going to be charged,” Blanche said at the Bitcoin 2026 conference. That statement marks a clear policy line. The Justice Department would still pursue criminal activity, but it would be more cautious about treating software development itself as grounds for prosecution. For open-source developers and decentralized finance teams, that distinction could reduce fear that neutral code-writing will be treated the same as knowingly facilitating money laundering, sanctions evasion, or fraud. The Justice Department still has ongoing cases against developers behind platforms allegedly used for illegal activity. Federal prosecutors are expected to retry Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm later this year after a jury failed to reach a verdict on 2 charges in 2025. That makes Blanche’s confirmation more than a personnel matter. His approach could affect how prosecutors evaluate developer liability, how they allocate resources to crypto investigations, and whether major cases continue with the same intensity. Republican Senator Thom Tillis also raised crypto concerns during the hearing, saying he was “concerned that the Binance CEO got pardoned.” Blanche responded that he would review the pardon process if confirmed. Related: Revolut Wins Initial VARA Approval To Launch Crypto Services In The UAE The nomination now moves through a narrow Senate landscape. Republicans need a simple majority of lawmakers present to confirm Blanche if his nomination advances from the judiciary panel. With Senator Mitch McConnell hospitalized after a fall that led to pneumonia, Republicans hold a slim 52-47 margin. For crypto firms, Blanche’s rise points to a Justice Department less likely to pursue broad criminal theories against developers and industry infrastructure. For critics, it raises the opposite concern: that enforcement discretion may be used to shield politically connected firms and weaken deterrence in a market already exposed to fraud, money laundering, and offshore exchange risk. The immediate market impact may be limited, but the policy signal is significant. Crypto enforcement is moving from a technical legal debate into a Senate-level political fight over conflicts, prosecutorial independence, and the boundaries of federal power.

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