{"id":126969,"date":"2025-04-11T06:18:41","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T06:18:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=126969"},"modified":"2025-04-11T06:18:41","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T06:18:41","slug":"democrats-slam-dojs-grave-mistake-in-disbanding-crypto-crime-unit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=126969","title":{"rendered":"Democrats slam DOJ\u2019s \u2018grave mistake\u2019 in disbanding crypto crime unit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsCrypto-critical US Senator Elizabeth Warren has led six Senate Democrats in urging the Department of Justice to reverse its decision to terminate its crypto investigations and prosecutions division.<br \/>\nIn an April 10 letter to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, the Senators said the decision to disband the department\u2019s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team was a \u201cgrave mistake\u201d that would support \u201csanctions evasion, drug trafficking, scams, and child sexual exploitation.\u201d<br \/>\nSenators Richard Durbin, Mazie Hirono, Sheldon Whitehouse, Christopher Coons and Richard Blumenthal signed the letter in addition to Warren.<br \/>\nOn April 7, Blanche shuttered the DOJ\u2019s crypto enforcement team, saying in a memo that \u201cThe Department of Justice is not a digital assets regulator.\u201d<br \/>\nThe senators claim that the decision gave a \u201cfree pass to cryptocurrency money launderers\u201d and claimed that crypto mixing services \u2014 used to obfuscate blockchain transactions \u2014 are \u201cgo-to tools for cybercriminals.\u201d\u00a0<br \/>\n\u201cIt makes no sense for DOJ to announce a hands-off approach to tools that are being used to support such terrible crimes,\u201d the letter said.<br \/>\nAn excerpt of Democrat\u2019s letter to the DOJ. Source: US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban AffairsThe senators also questioned why the Justice Department\u00a0 had decided not to prosecute a \u201chost of crimes involving digital assets, including violations of the Bank Secrecy Act.\u201d<br \/>\nThey claimed that this creates a \u201csystemic vulnerability in the digital assets sector,\u201d which \u201cdrug traffickers, terrorists, fraudsters, and adversaries\u201d will exploit on a large scale.\u00a0<br \/>\nThe lawmakers requested a staff-level briefing no later than May 1, providing \u201cdetailed information on the rationale behind these decisions.\u201d\u00a0<br \/>\nTargeting Trump family crypto endeavors\u00a0<br \/>\nThe letter also took a swipe at the Trump family\u2019s crypto projects, suggesting potential conflicts of interest.<br \/>\nRelated: SafeMoon boss cites DOJ\u2019s nixed crypto unit in latest bid to toss suit<br \/>\nA press release accompanying the letter stated that the senators are raising concerns about the \u201cpotential connections\u201d between the DOJ\u2019s actions and the crypto ventures of President Donald Trump and his family.<br \/>\nThe Trumps have an interest in and have backed the crypto platform World Liberty Financial along with its token. The platform is also planning to launch a stablecoin while President Trump\u2019s sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., are working to launch a crypto-mining company called American Bitcoin.<br \/>\n\u201cYour decisions give rise to concerns that President Trump\u2019s interest in selling his cryptocurrency may be the reason for easing law enforcement scrutiny,\u201d the Democrats stated. \u00a0<br \/>\nIn a memo announcing the crypto enforcement team\u2019s disbandment, Blanche accused the Biden administration of using the Justice Department to \u201cpursue a reckless strategy of regulation by prosecution.\u201d<br \/>\nMagazine: Illegal arcade disguised as \u2026 a fake Bitcoin mine? Soldier scams in China: Asia Express<a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/senate-democrats-slam-doj-crypto-crime-unit-shutdown?utm_source=rss_feed&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"feedzy-rss-link-icon\" rel=\"noopener\">Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsCrypto-critical US Senator Elizabeth Warren has led six Senate Democrats in urging the Department of Justice to reverse its decision to terminate its crypto investigations and prosecutions division.&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126969"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=126969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126969\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=126969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=126969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=126969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}