Gallego, Banking Committee Democrats Press Bondi and Bessent to Investigate Binance ...

WASHINGTON – *Today, *Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ),a member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, joined Democratic colleagues on the Committee in pressing the U.S. Treasury and Justice Departments to investigate reports that Binance is facilitating illicit finance activities, including transactions linked to Iran and its proxies. Doing so would fail to comply with the settlement agreement that Binance reached in 2023 following its guilty plea of serious federal charges that included money laundering and violations of U.S. sanctions laws.

In their letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Attorney General Pam Bondi, the Senators stressed that our national security is at risk if Binance is supporting the financial activities of terrorist groups or other adversaries of the United States that seek to do our nation harm. Highlighting the added concern that Binance has deepened its ties to President Donald Trump and his family in recent months, they called on Bondi and Bessent to carry out a thorough, impartial investigation for the safety and security of the American people.

“We write to express our concern with illicit finance risks presented by the digital asset firm Binance Holdings Ltd. (Binance). Recent reports raise serious concerns about the strength of illicit finance guardrails at Binance’s digital asset exchange, as well as its adherence to 2023 settlements for apparent violations of sanctions rules and breaches of anti-money laundering laws. We urge you to conduct a prompt, comprehensive review of sanctions compliance on the platform to ensure that it is not once again violating the law and threatening U.S. national security,” the Senators began.

“According to reporting, last year, Binance compliance personnel obtained evidence that $1.7 billion in digital assets had been funneled through Binance to Iranian entities tied to terrorism, including both the Iran-backed Houthis and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In one instance, evidence suggested that one of Binance’s own vendors routed $1.2 billion in funds to Iran-linked entities,” *they continued. *“In addition, the reports describe a broader deterioration in Binance’s compliance functions. Compliance officials at Binance have departed or been dismissed beyond those who uncovered the links to Iranian entities. According to law enforcement, Binance has grown markedly less cooperative with requests for information about customers as well.”

“These allegations raise grave concerns that poor illicit finance controls at Binance remain a significant threat to national security. Our illicit finance controls are dangerously compromised if enormous sums can flow through Binance to terrorist groups or sanctions evaders,” the Senators stressed.

Highlighting concerns with the President and his family’s business ties to Binance, the Senators wrote, “We recognize, of course, that Binance has made numerous business decisions that have helped President Trump and his family profit from their crypto ventures. The exchange has repeatedly pushed users to purchase USD1, the stablecoin issued by the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial, including through interest payments on USD1 holdings on the exchange. It also assisted with technology for USD1 and accepted a $2 billion investment made in the token. Last fall, despite claiming he had ‘no idea who he is,’ President Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s billionaire founder and former chief executive who had pleaded guilty to failing to establish an effective anti-money laundering program for the platform and was sentenced to four months in prison.”

“If Binance has begun to ignore its illicit finance obligations, the risks are grave and nonpartisan, and we hope that the Trump Administration will faithfully carry out its obligations to administer our nation’s illicit finance laws,” the Senators concluded.

Read the full letter **HERE***.*