More than 65 crypto and blockchain companies and advocacy groups have called on US President Donald Trump to intervene as federal prosecutors may prepare to retry Tornado Cash co-founder and developer Roman Storm.
In a letter to Trump on Thursday shared with Cointelegraph, advocacy groups including the Solana Policy Institute, the Blockchain Association, and the DeFi Education Fund made several demands regarding crypto-related policies.
The group called on President Trump to direct the IRS and U.S. Treasury Department to clarify tax policies for digital assets, protect DeFi from regulators, and encourage regulatory clarity through financial regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
But it’s worth noting that the letter asked President Trump to “urge the Department of Justice to dismiss all outstanding charges against Roman Storm” and to support overturning his conviction for operating an unlicensed money transfer service.
sauce: Solana Policy Research Institute
“We recognize that Mr. Storm’s efforts with respect to Tornado Cash amount to publishing open source software rather than financial crime,” the letter said. “Dreasing the lawsuit would reaffirm the government’s commitment to protecting developers. Doing so would further confirm that speech is a norm under the First Amendment and send a signal that the United States will protect innovation.”
Related: The jury’s path to the Storm of Rome verdict
Mr. Storm was convicted in federal court of operating an unauthorized money transmitting business, one of three charges he faced. The jury did not determine whether the Tornado Cash co-founders were involved in a conspiracy to launder money or violate sanctions.
Will the Justice Department overturn criminal allegations related to the code?
Mr. Storm was indicted on three felonies in August 2023 and has pleaded not guilty. He repeatedly insisted he was innocent, echoing cries from many of his supporters that “writing code is not a crime.”
About two weeks after the verdict was handed down, Justice Department officials spoke at a summit hosted by the cryptocurrency advocacy group American Innovation Project. “Simply writing code without malicious intent is not a crime,” said Matthew Galeotti, deputy assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s criminal division.
Despite Mr. Galeotti’s comments, Jay Clayton, interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, filed a motion with the court on November 12 to oppose Mr. Storm’s plea of not guilty. As of Thursday, both parties are scheduled to return to court for a conference to discuss the matter on Jan. 22, but the sentencing hearing for this single conviction is not on the public docket.
Although the president of the United States has some influence over the Justice Department in directing policy goals, norms are one of the main barriers to preventing the president from violating prosecutorial independence, meaning ordering federal prosecutors to drop charges or indict someone.
Cointelegraph contacted the Solana Institute for Policy Studies regarding its request for a letter requesting President Trump’s intervention in the Storm incident, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
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