Democratic Senators Pledge Oversight of Justice Department's Binance Investigation
Three Democratic senators—Chris Van Hollen, Elizabeth Warren, and Ruben Gallego—have committed to monitoring the Justice Department's probe into Binance to ensure a thorough investigation takes place.
Three Democratic senators have announced their intention to monitor a Justice Department probe that reportedly involves potential violations of Iran-related sanctions by the cryptocurrency platform Binance.
In a joint statement released on Thursday, Senators Chris Van Hollen, Elizabeth Warren and Ruben Gallego declared their commitment to "conduct oversight to ensure the Department of Justice conducts a serious investigation into Binance and holds the company accountable for any wrongdoing."
According to a Wednesday report from the Wall Street Journal, which cited sources with knowledge of the situation, federal prosecutors at the Justice Department have launched an investigation into whether Iran utilized Binance as a vehicle to circumvent international sanctions.
The trio of senators stated that "Binance has an established track record of putting profits ahead of the law," further noting that the reporting has generated "serious concerns that the firm is again violating US sanctions laws, recklessly helping bankroll the activities of terrorist groups connected to Iran."
When contacted for comment, Binance did not provide an immediate response, though a company spokesperson had previously informed Cointelegraph that the exchange was "not aware of any investigations. But as always, we are collaborating with regulators and law enforcement to investigate the facts."
According to the senators' statement, they reached out to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Attorney General Pam Bondi last month, requesting an investigation into Binance based on concerns regarding the transfer of funds connected to Iran.
Binance filed defamation suit against WSJ
On Wednesday, Binance initiated legal action against the Wall Street Journal, alleging that an article the publication ran on Feb. 23 contained defamatory statements.
The article in question alleged that Binance had terminated employees who had identified approximately $1 billion in cryptocurrency linked to Iranian entities under sanctions, including Yemen's Houthis and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The crypto exchange refuted claims that it had halted any internal investigation and maintained that the Wall Street Journal's reporting was inaccurate.
In November 2023, Binance entered a guilty plea for violations of US anti-money-laundering and sanctions laws, resulting in a record-breaking $4.3 billion fine and an agreement to function under US regulatory oversight.
Changpeng Zhao, who previously served as Binance CEO, entered a guilty plea to a charge related to money laundering and received a four-month jail sentence in 2024.
In October, US President Donald Trump granted a pardon to Zhao.