Trump's Newly Appointed Attorney General Previously Held BTC, ETH, SOL, and Other Cryptocurrencies

April 3rd (CoinDesk) — After firing Attorney General Pam Bondi, former President Trump appointed Todd Branch—his former personal lawyer and ex-Deputy Attorney General—as acting Attorney General. Branch previously disbanded the Department of Justice’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) during his tenure as Deputy Attorney General and signed a memo telling prosecutors to stop pursuing regulatory violation cases involving the cryptocurrency industry. That memo was cited by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York in the case of Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm, resulting in one charge being dismissed. Notably, Branch held between $159,000 and $485,000 in crypto assets (including BTC, ETH, SOL, ADA) when he signed the enforcement memo—sparking questions about potential violations of ethics rules and his prior pledge to divest such assets before handling crypto-related matters. Recent U.S. government ethics disclosure filings show Branch has transferred those assets to his children and grandchildren.