Six Senators Accuse Deputy Attorney General of “Glaring” Crypto Conflict, Cite ProPublica Investigation

ProPublicaCenter-LeftEN 3 min read 100% complete by Corey G. JohnsonJanuary 29, 2026 at 10:30 PM

AI Summary

medium article 3 min

Six senators are accusing Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche of a conflict of interest for curtailing cryptocurrency enforcement efforts at the Department of Justice. The senators, citing a ProPublica investigation, allege Blanche owned at least $159,000 in crypto assets when he ended investigations into crypto companies and disbanded the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team in April. They claim this violated federal conflict of interest laws, as Blanche's actions could have directly benefited his financial interests. Despite signing an ethics agreement to divest his crypto holdings and recuse himself from related matters, Blanche issued a memo halting investigations launched under President Biden before divesting. The senators, including members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, previously raised concerns that his actions would benefit Donald Trump's crypto interests.

Keywords

crypto conflict of interest 90% cryptocurrency 80% todd blanche 80% justice department 70% enforcement 60% senate judiciary committee 50% regulation by prosecution 50% money laundering 50% ethics agreement 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Negative
Score: -0.40

Source Transparency

Source
ProPublica
Political Lean
Center-Left (-0.40)
Far LeftCenterFar Right
Classification Confidence
90%

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).