By Chris Prentice and Marisa Taylor
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) – Top U.S. Democratic Senators on Monday pressed Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins for answers about the sudden departure of the agency’s top enforcement official after she reportedly clashed with Atkins over cases with connections to President Donald Trump and his family, according to letters reviewed by Reuters.
Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat on a Senate subcommittee for investigations, and Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, each cited Reuters’ reporting that the SEC’s top enforcement official, Judge Margaret Ryan, had clashed with Atkins and agency leaders over the direction of its enforcement program, including the handling of cases involving leaders of crypto companies with ties to Trump and his family.
The lawmakers’ letters, seeking records in connection with certain high-profile enforcement cases and other details, ratchet up pressure on the U.S. markets regulator to provide answers after the top enforcement official quit this month.
“Ms. Ryan’s abrupt departure from the agency raises questions in light of her short tenure and reports that senior leadership intervened to prohibit the Enforcement Division from pursuing cases against cryptocurrency companies,” Blumenthal wrote in a March 30 letter sent to Atkins.
Warren noted in a separate letter sent on Monday that Ryan’s abrupt exit could affect the SEC Enforcement Division’s ability to fulfill its mission. She described Ryan’s exit and the reported circumstances around it as “deeply troubling”.
An SEC spokesperson declined to comment.
Ryan, a former military judge and clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, wanted to be more aggressive in pursuing charges for fraud and other misconduct, and took issue with the handling of high-profile cases involving crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun and billionaire Elon Musk, sources previously told Reuters.
Her abrupt departure has rattled the agency, already dealing with an exodus of staff under the Trump administration and major policy changes by Republican leaders taking a softer stance on the crypto industry.
Blumenthal’s inquiry into the SEC cases steps up the lawmaker’s probe of illicit crypto use. During the Trump administration, the U.S. has moved to incorporate crypto into more traditional banking systems and taken a softer posture against the industry in enforcement, including at the SEC. The agency has resolved or outright dismissed a number of cases against crypto firms and executives, including Sun and Changpeng Zhao, the founder of cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
In the letter, Blumenthal said “crypto-fueled crime has skyrocketed since President Trump came back into office.”
He is seeking records and communications from Atkins and other SEC officials in connection with potential enforcement actions against crypto firms. This includes any tied to Sun, a major backer of the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial crypto venture, or Zhao, the lawmaker added in the letter.
A spokesperson for Zhao’s company said “Binance has not had any discussion with SEC Chairman Atkins, and has not had engagement with any SEC commissioners beyond general policy discussions, over a year ago, which were unrelated to Binance.”
Separately, White House Counsel David Warrington said: “The President has no involvement in business deals that would implicate his constitutional responsibilities. President Trump performs his constitutional duties in an ethically sound manner and to suggest otherwise is either ill-informed or malicious.”
Blumenthal also asked Atkins for similar records related to communications with any member of the Trump family or its crypto empire World Liberty Financial, as well as the family of the firm’s CEO Zach Witkoff. He is the son of Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East.
“Neither Zach Witkoff nor anyone else at World Liberty Financial has met with or communicated with Chairman Atkins or anyone else at the SEC on this or any other matter,” a spokesperson for World Liberty Financial said. “It’s sad to watch Democrats continue their fact-free witch hunt targeting WLF over politics.”
Sun’s company did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
(Reporting by Chris Prentice and Marisa Taylor; Editing by Andrea Ricci and Aurora Ellis)
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