Two Democratic senators are pressing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for answers following the March resignation of its enforcement director, Margaret Ryan. A Reuters report suggested Ryan clashed with agency leadership over cases involving individuals connected to U.S. President Donald Trump.
In a letter to SEC Chair Paul Atkins on Monday, Senator Richard Blumenthal questioned why the agency dropped a fraud case against Tron founder Justin Sun—partner of the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial (WLFI) crypto platform—just 11 days before Ryan stepped down.
Senator Elizabeth Warren also sent a letter raising concerns about Ryan’s resignation and whether she faced resistance from SEC leadership over cases tied to Trump’s circle.
The letters are part of ongoing Democratic scrutiny of Trump’s crypto ventures, including WLFI, the Official Trump memecoin, and Trump Media & Technology Group, with critics warning of potential conflicts of interest with his presidential activities.
Concerns intensified after Trump pardoned former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao in October, though Zhao’s lawyer denied any insider agreement. Meanwhile, the SEC has dropped several high-profile crypto investigations in 2025.
Blumenthal claimed the SEC “may have exercised preferential treatment for financial partners of President Trump, against the advice and warnings of senior staff, by declining to litigate credible fraud cases.”
Reuters also reported that Tesla CEO Elon Musk was reportedly under Ryan’s scrutiny before her resignation on March 16.
Blumenthal Demands SEC Records on Crypto Communications
Senator Richard Blumenthal is requesting “all records and communications” between the SEC’s Division of Enforcement and senior leadership since January 20, 2025, related to potential enforcement actions against crypto companies.
The senator is also seeking the SEC’s communications with the Trump and Witkoff families. WLFI, the crypto platform at the center of the scrutiny, is led by Zach Witkoff, while Trump’s sons—Eric, Donald Jr., and Barron—were among the company’s founding members.
Blumenthal highlighted that illicit crypto activity surged to $154 billion in 2025, Trump’s first year back in office, claiming that Justin Sun’s Tron network played a “disproportionate role” in this growth.
“While Tron accounts for roughly a third of all payment tokens in the crypto ecosystem, 58% of all illicit finance in crypto occurred on Tron’s network in 2024,” Blumenthal said.
He added, “This is a clear example of how President Trump’s crypto dealings create back doors for his family’s business partners, fostering a pay-to-play enforcement environment that ignores serious threats to national security and consumer protection.”
Meanwhile, Senator Elizabeth Warren called Ryan’s brief tenure at the SEC “troubling” in her own letter.
“Reports that Judge Ryan was not given the latitude to enforce the law against allies of President Trump fit into a broader narrative that has marked your tenure as SEC Chair: if you have the ability to pay or have connections to the President, you can act with impunity.”
While the SEC hasn’t publicly commented on Ryan’s departure, a spokesperson for the agency told Cointelegraph last week that it would continue to make “enforcement decisions based on facts, the law, and policy — not politics.”
