An ethics watchdog group filed a complaint Thursday seeking an investigation into whether
#Todd #Blanche,
Donald Trump’s criminal defense attorney
— now the No. 2 at the Justice Department
— broke federal conflict-of-interest law
when he issued a new prosecution policy that
benefits the cryptocurrency industry.
The complaint comes after a ProPublica investigation revealed last month that
💥 Blanche owned at least $159,000 worth of crypto-related assets when 👉he ordered an end to investigations into crypto companies, dealers and exchanges launched during President Joe Biden’s term.
Blanche, the deputy attorney general, issued the order in an April memo
in which❌ he also eliminated an enforcement team dedicated to looking for crypto-related fraud and money-laundering schemes.
⚠️Blanche had previously signed an ethics agreement promising to dump his cryptocurrency within 90 days of his confirmation
-- and not to participate in any matter that could have a
“direct and predictable effect on my financial interests in the virtual currency”
until his bitcoin and other crypto-related products were sold.
Later ethics filings show Blanche divested from the investments more than a month after he issued the memo.
Even when he did ultimately get rid of his crypto interests,
his ethics records show he did so by 🔥transferring them to his adult children and a grandchild,
a move ethics experts said is technically legal but at odds with the spirit and intent of the law.
In its complaint this week, the "Campaign Legal Center" asked the Justice Department’s acting inspector general to launch an investigation.
The complaint alleged that the evidence suggests that Blanche ♦️“blatantly and improperly influenced DOJ’s digital asset prosecution guidelines while standing to financially benefit.”
“The public has a right to know that decisions are being made in the public’s best interest
and not to benefit a government employee’s financial interests,”
Kedric Payne, the organization’s general counsel and senior director of ethics, wrote in the complaint.
The inspector general’s office “should investigate and determine whether a criminal violation occurred.”
https://www.propublica.org/article/todd-blanche-complaint-conflict-of-interest
