{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.hirono.senate.gov/news/press-releases/hirono-colleagues-press-doj-on-trump-administrations-binance-ties-and-reported-plan-to-drop-key-safeguards-in-companys-43-billion-settlement-and-plea-agreement", "Hirono, Colleagues Press DOJ on Trump Administration\u2019s Binance Ties and Reported Plan to Drop Key Safeguards in Company\u2019s $4.3 Billion Settlement and Plea Agreement", "2025-09-18", "2025", "2025-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "HI", "Mazie K. Hirono", "H001042", "www.hirono.senate.gov", "hirono", "https://www.hirono.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Senators: \u201cSince May, President Trump and his family have increased their financial ties to Binance through their company, World Liberty Financial\u2026 These reports make it more important than ever that the public understand the Trump Administration\u2019s interactions with, and relationship to, Binance and its employees.\u201d\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in sending a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi requesting more information regarding the Trump Administration\u2019s oversight of cryptocurrency exchange Binance\u2019s legal obligation to exit the U.S. market, following its 2023 guilty plea and settlement of serious federal charges including money laundering and violations of U.S. sanctions laws.\n\nIn May, the lawmakers raised concerns about reported meetings between Binance executives and Trump administration officials and pressed the Department of Treasury and Department of Justice (DOJ) for details about Binance\u2019s compliance obligations, its timeline for exiting the U.S. market, and whether the company sought a pardon for its former CEO. The DOJ\u2019s September response failed to address those questions directly and did not confirm whether Binance is complying with ongoing settlement requirements.\n\n\u201cNotably, this response did not confirm whether or not Binance was, in fact, complying with these \u2018ongoing requirements,\u2019\u201d wrote the Senators. \u201cThe response then concluded, failing to meaningfully answer any of our questions.\u201d\n\nThe Senators continued: \u201cSince May, President Trump and his family have increased their financial ties to Binance through their company, World Liberty Financial, and just this week, news broke that Binance may be \u2018moving toward a potential deal with the US Justice Department that would allow it to drop\u2019 its outside compliance monitor\u2014a \u2018key oversight requirement in its $4.3 billion settlement\u2019 with the federal government. These reports make it more important than ever that the public understand the Trump Administration\u2019s interactions with, and relationship to, Binance and its employees.\u201d\n\nAmid new reporting that Binance is in talks with DOJ to eliminate that key independent oversight, the Senators requested meaningful answers from the agency by October 1, 2025.\n\nThe full text of the letter is available here and below.\n\nDear Attorney General Bondi:\n\nOn May 9, 2025, we wrote to you to express our concerns about reports of meetings between Binance executives and officials from the Treasury Department. We requested information from you regarding the Trump Administration\u2019s efforts to ensure Binance\u2019s compliance with its 2023 plea agreement with the federal government to address charges of money laundering, operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, violating U.S. sanctions laws, and failing to prevent and report suspicious transactions with terrorist groups.\n\nSpecifically, we asked:\n\nWhat steps has the Department of Justice taken to maintain mandatory compliance with Binance as required by its plea agreements?\n\nWhat is the status of Binance\u2019s pending exit from the United States? Please provide us with information related to the actions taken so far, and an updated timeline on when we can anticipate the company\u2019s complete exit from the country.\n\nHas Binance raised the topic of a potential pardon for former CEO Changpeng Zhao with any Department of Justice officials? If so, what was the context of that conversation?\n\nHas Binance raised the topic of World Liberty Financial or its interest in listing a new stablecoin on Binance with any Department of Justice officials? If so, what was the context of that conversation?\n\nOn September 12, 2025, the Department responded. After summarizing publicly available information about Binance\u2019s 2023 plea agreement, the response first stated that \u201cBinance has paid all the penalties due to the Department.\u201d It then asserted that \u201cBinance also has ongoing requirements under the terms of its plea agreement, including cooperating with the Department and remediation and enhancement of its compliance program.\u201d Notably, this response did not confirm whether or not Binance was, in fact, complying with these \u201congoing requirements.\u201d The response then concluded, failing to meaningfully answer any of our questions.\n\nSince May, President Trump and his family have increased their financial ties to Binance through their company, World Liberty Financial, and just this week, news broke that Binance may be \u201cmoving toward a potential deal with the US Justice Department that would allow it to drop\u201d its outside compliance monitor\u2014a \u201ckey oversight requirement in its $4.3 billion settlement\u201d with the federal government. These reports make it more important than ever that the public understand the Trump Administration\u2019s interactions with, and relationship to, Binance and its employees. We therefore once again request meaningful answers to the questions above by no later than October 1, 2025.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:10:29Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.hirono.senate.gov/news/press-releases/hirono-colleagues-press-doj-on-trump-administrations-binance-ties-and-reported-plan-to-drop-key-safeguards-in-companys-43-billion-settlement-and-plea-agreement"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.0386413671076298, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}