ChainCatcher news, according to Caixin, on September 5 local time, Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia stated in court that former President Trump’s defense attorney John Lauro claimed that Trump does not plead guilty to the charges in the amended indictment. Chutkan stated that she would consider issuing a summons for Trump.

According to ChainCatcher, the U.S. Department of Justice explained why the motion to dismiss the criminal charges by Tornado Cash founder Roman Storm is invalid, as reported by Protos. The Department of Justice reiterated that its indictment is not related to whether the computer code of Tornado Cash is protected by free speech or the First Amendment; the defendant is not being prosecuted for publishing computer code, but for using it to facilitate a profitable illegal business.The Department explained that banks use computer code to process financial transactions. If the code performs the functions of a money transmitter as defined by law, then the code is not merely free speech, but a computer code that humans must ensure is implemented in a manner that does not violate money transmission laws. Tornado Cash is part code, part speech, and part business; overall, it is a human creation. Storm did not just publish code; he operated a business and made operational decisions for years.The Department stated that the Tornado Cash protocol is not equivalent to the Tornado Cash business. Just because Tornado Cash has some open-source code does not mean that all actions involving that code by Roman Storm, as the owner of the Tornado Cash business, are protected by the Constitution. The Department focuses on Storm's purposeful actions. Specifically, prosecutors are focused on the allegation that he knowingly operated a suspected money laundering business that brought him over $1 billion in illegal proceeds to launder over $1 billion in suspected criminal funds.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, former head of the Internet Enforcement Office of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) John Reed Stark believes that the U.S. Department of Justice may have already submitted a criminal indictment related to Binance, viewing money laundering charges as a way for the DOJ to take action.Reed added, "To me, the complaints from the CFTC and SEC read more like criminal indictments, filled with allegations of fraud, deception, obstruction of justice, and money laundering. There is no concentrated focus on money laundering in the cases, which leaves room for the U.S. Department of Justice to outline and reserve prosecutorial space for criminal litigation related to Binance. The DOJ is working with the SEC, CFTC, and several informants/whistleblowers, and the next issue to address is the submission or unsealing of criminal charges related to Binance."It is reported that John Reed Stark served at the SEC for 19 years and is the former director of the SEC's Internet Enforcement Office, currently serving as a senior lecturer at Duke University School of Law.ChainCatcher reported this morning that Binance.US has hired four lawyers, including a former co-head of the SEC's enforcement division, for its defense. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams stated that earlier tonight (local time), Bahamian authorities arrested SBF at the request of the U.S. government based on a sealed indictment submitted by the SDNY (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York). We expect to unseal the indictment tomorrow morning, at which time more information will be disclosed. (Source link)