Compass Investments

– The senators mentioned that in January 2025, shortly before Trump took office, Blanch disclosed between $158,000 and $470000 worth of crypto-assets, mostly in Bitcoin and Ethereum.

On February 10, he agreed to sell off those assets “at the earliest opportunity.

However, lawmakers pointed out that Blanche was appointed deputy attorney general on March 5, and on April 7, he issued a memo restricting the work of law enforcement in the cryptocurrency industry.

They added that he did not start getting rid of his cryptocurrencies until the end of May, and completed the sale or transfer between May 31 and June 3.

In their appeal, the senators said Blanch may have violated 18 U.S.C. 208(a), which generally prohibits executive branch officials from participating in decisions that benefit them personally.

According to their information, the matter is currently under review by the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General, and they have requested that Blanch retain documentation and provide a full account of how the situation was brought to their attention, how it was responded to, and what action was ultimately taken by the ethics officials.

The April 7 memorandum titled “Ending Regulatory Pressure Through Litigation” marked a significant shift in the Justice Department’s approach to digital assets.

Blanch argued that the DOJ is not a financial watchdog and argued that previous enforcement actions were essentially “regulation by lawsuit.

The new rules require prosecutors to focus on cases where crypto investors are directly harmed or digital assets are used in illegal activities (including terrorism, drug trafficking, organized crime and human trafficking), and to avoid proceedings involving exchanges, mixers and other platforms whose users may be involved in illegal activities.

The memo also instructed the NCET to stop investigations that do not meet the new priorities and officially disband the NCET.

The lawmakers claim they warned Blanch as early as last year of the potential serious consequences of weakened enforcement. In their latest letter, they cited data pointing to an increase in illicit crypto activity in 2025, with TRM Labs estimating that the volume of questionable transactions reached $158 billion, up nearly 145% from the previous year.