US Senator Dick Durbin blasts Todd Blanche over crypto unit shutdown and CZ pardon at Senate hearing

Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche came under fire at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday over the Justice department’s handling of crypto-related enforcement, including the April 2025 shutdown of its crypto enforcement unit. For high-risk operators, the practical takeaway is simple: the DoJ’s posture on crypto crime is now part of the policy fight around who gets pursued, who gets pardoned, and which investigations survive.

1. Senator Dick Durbin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Blanche had “dismantl[ed] DoJ’s enforcement team and shut[ ] down ongoing criminal investigations of the crypto industry.” The accusation was tied to Blanche’s reported role, as deputy attorney general, in disbanding the Justice department’s crypto enforcement unit in April 2025.
2. Durbin also said Blanche’s order helped create conditions that enabled President Donald Trump to earn $1.4 billion from his ties to the crypto industry, including his family’s business World Liberty Financial. He further accused former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao of “broker[ing] a deal to channel $2 billion” into World Liberty, which Durbin linked to a presidential pardon.
3. Zhao agreed in 2023 to plead guilty to one felony charge related to the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regime at Binance. That detail matters because it puts the pardon debate in the same frame as exchange-level AML enforcement, which is where banks, PSPs, and acquirers usually get nervous first.
4. Republicans still need only a simple majority of lawmakers present to confirm Blanche if his nomination advances out of the judiciary panel. With Senator Mitch McConnell hospitalized after what his team described as a fall that led to pneumonia, Republicans have a slim 52-47 margin.
5. Blanche also drew crypto-related questions from Republican Senator Thom Tillis, who said he was “concerned that the Binance CEO got pardoned.” Blanche said he would review the pardon process if confirmed.

Blanche has already signaled a different enforcement posture. In 2025, he backed a memo ending “regulation by prosecution” in crypto, and after becoming acting US Attorney General in April, he told crypto holders that officials would not pursue cases against blockchain developers who were not responsible for illicit activity on platforms. He had previously held at least $159,000 worth of digital asset-related investments before divesting them to his children and grandchildren.