Greater than 65 cryptocurrency and blockchain firms and advocacy teams have referred to as on US President Donald Trump to step in as federal prosecutors could also be making ready to retry Twister Money co-founder and developer Roman Storm.
In a letter to Trump dated Thursday and shared with Cointelegraph, advocacy organizations together with the Solana Coverage Institute, Blockchain Affiliation and DeFi Schooling Fund, amongst others, made a number of requests concerning crypto-related insurance policies.
The teams requested Trump to direct the IRS and US Treasury to make clear tax coverage on digital belongings, defend DeFi from regulators and encourage regulatory readability via monetary regulators just like the Securities and Change Fee and Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee.
Notable, nonetheless, was the letter’s request for Trump to “urge the Division of Justice to dismiss all open fees in opposition to Roman Storm” and help overturning his conviction for working an unlicensed cash transmitting service.
“Recognizing that Storm’s work on Twister Money represents the publication of open-source software program – not a monetary crime,” mentioned the letter. “Dropping the case would reaffirm the Administration’s dedication to defending builders. Doing so will additional help that code is speech underneath the First Modification and indicators that the US will defend innovation.”
Associated: The jury’s journey to the Roman Storm verdict
Storm was discovered responsible in federal court docket of working an unlicensed cash transmittal enterprise, one in every of three fees he had been going through. The jury didn’t resolve whether or not the Twister Money co-founder engaged in a conspiracy to commit cash laundering and a conspiracy to violate sanctions.
DOJ about-face on alleged crimes involving code?
Storm, who was indicted in August 2023 for the three felony fees, pleaded not responsible. He repeatedly claimed he was harmless by echoing the rallying cry from lots of his supporters: “Writing code just isn’t a criminal offense.“
About two weeks after the decision was handed down, a Justice Division official spoke at a summit run by the cryptocurrency advocacy group American Innovation Venture. Matthew Galeotti, the appearing assistant legal professional common for the Justice Division’s legal division, mentioned that “merely writing code, with out unwell intent, just isn’t a criminal offense.”
Regardless of Galeotti’s feedback, Jay Clayton, the interim US legal professional for the Southern District of New York, filed with the court docket on Nov. 12 to oppose Storm’s movement for acquittal. As of Thursday, the events are scheduled to return to court docket for a convention to debate the matter on Jan. 22, and no sentencing listening to for the only conviction appeared on the general public docket.
Although a US president has some affect over the Justice Division in directing coverage aims, norms have primarily been one of many limitations in stopping a president from violating prosecutorial independence, i.e., ordering a federal prosecutor to drop fees or indict somebody.
Cointelegraph reached out to the Solana Coverage Institute concerning the letter’s request that Trump intervene within the Storm case, however had not acquired a response on the time of publication.
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