Prosecutors in the case against Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm are making moves to avoid having to cough up more evidence that could help Storm’s case. Storm’s lawyers have been pushing for prosecutors to hand over any potentially useful evidence in their battle against the developer. The whole shebang went down on May 21, 2025, at 8:11 p.m.
In a letter to the court on a fine Wednesday, prosecutors weren’t having it with Storm’s lawyers’ claims that they hadn’t fulfilled their Brady obligations. You know, the whole deal where prosecutors are supposed to hand over any helpful evidence to the defense before the trial kicks off. It all boils down to a recent evidence dump in another case in the Southern District of New York involving the folks behind Samourai Wallet. The prosecutors in that case had a chat with some FinCEN officials back in 2023 before throwing down charges. The FinCEN folks basically said the mixing service they were going after wasn’t a money transmitting business under their guidelines and didn’t need a license. But, hold up, the prosecutors didn’t spill the beans on this convo to the defense team. Sneaky, sneaky.
Fast forward to last week, the judge in the Samourai Wallet case shut down a motion for a hearing on the matter. Instead, he told them to bring up their gripes in their pre-trial motion due by the end of the month. Storm’s lawyers are getting antsy, thinking the prosecutors’ silence on their chit-chat with FinCEN could be a Brady violation in Storm’s case. But the prosecutors hit back, saying the FinCEN convo wasn’t evidence, just an opinion, and opinions don’t need to be handed over to the defense. They also argued that the convo had nothing to do with Tornado Cash, the service Storm is all about.
In their clapback, prosecutors claimed they didn’t have similar convos with FinCEN about Tornado Cash. They said there were no interactions like the ones in the Rodriguez Disclosures. Basically, they’re saying, “It’s not the same, folks.” The case against Storm is set to kick off on July 14 in New York, so get ready for the legal showdown.
Cheyenne Ligon, the news team’s crypto regulation and crime specialist at CoinDesk, broke down the whole drama. Hailing from Houston, Texas, Cheyenne studied political science at Tulane University and got her journalism degree from CUNY’s Craig Newmark Graduate School. She’s not swimming in crypto riches, just keeping it real.
So, the prosecutors and Storm’s lawyers are duking it out over evidence, the judge is playing referee, and the showdown is set for July 14. Will Storm weather the legal storm? Stay tuned to find out.
