Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche faced backlash Wednesday over the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) enforcement of crypto-related crimes and other actions as President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney appeared before a Senate hearing examining his nomination to lead the agency.
Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, used is part of his opening statement at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to criticize Trump’s AG pick for what he described as “dismantling the DoJ’s enforcement team and shutting down ongoing criminal investigations into the crypto industry.”
Blanche would have been behind the dissolution of the Department of Justice’s Crypto Enforcement Unit in April 2025 as deputy attorney general.
Todd Blanche speaking during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. Source: Associated Press
Illinois lawmaker says Blanche’s order dismantling DoJ’s crypto unit allowed Trump to earn $1.4 billion from his links to the industry, including the family business World Liberty Financial.
He also accused former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao of “brokering[ing] a deal to funnel $2 billion” into World Liberty, which led to a presidential pardon. The former CEO agreed in 2023 to plead guilty to a felony charge related to the anti-money laundering (AML) scheme at the exchange.
“Every sneaky, suspicious deal in this administration has cryptocurrency behind the curtain,” Durbin said.
Senate Republicans need a simple majority of lawmakers present to confirm Blanche as AG if her nomination advances through the judiciary panel. With Sen. Mitch McConnell still hospitalized after what his team described as a fall that led to pneumonia, the party has a slim margin of 52-47 To confirm, Blanche, who faces criticism over the DoJ’s actions on immigration and its crypto policies, claims he would facilitate Trump’s attacks on perceived enemies and the handling of Jeffrey Epstein’s files.
Related: Three US senators oppose the CLARITY Act on ethics grounds and a vote is expected soon
Blanche also faced crypto-related questions from Republican Senator Thom Tillis, who said he was “concerned that the CEO of Binance was pardoned.” Blanche said he would review the pardon process if confirmed.
Blanche Signals DoJ Shift in Pursuing Coders
The choice of Trump AG was the origin of a 2025 note “end regulation through lawsuits” in the crypto industry and previously held at least $159,000 in digital asset-related investments before passing them on to his children and grandchildren.
He has served as acting U.S. attorney general since the firing of Pamela Bondi in April, telling crypto holders shortly after his appointment that those responsible would not continue business in blockchain developers who were not responsible for illicit activities on the platforms.
»[I]If you develop software, if you are a coder, if you are part of that process and you are not a third party user, and you are not helping and you know that the third party is using what you developed to commit crimes, you will not be investigated or charged,” Blanche said at the Bitcoin 2026 conference.
The department still has pending cases against developers behind platforms allegedly used for illegal activities. Federal prosecutors are I should try again Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm later this year after a jury failed to reach a verdict on two charges in 2025.
Review: Will the crypto lobby’s $189 million campaign bring CLARITY to the line?
