“On October 10, 2023, the Wall Street Journal reported that Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah have received funding through crypto assets since August 2021, though subsequent reports have highlighted that the level of funding reported in the article is likely not accurate,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland. “However, we believe it is nonetheless imperative that the Department of Justice hold bad actors accountable if they are shown to facilitate illicit activity.”

The request is notable because it comes from two historical advocates for reasonable regulation of crypto. Senator Lummis is a member of the influential Senate Banking Committee, has drafted a bill on crypto and continues to press to get crypto legislation through Congress. In August, she also called on a federal court to dismiss a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit against crypto exchange Coinbase.

Rep. Hill is the Chair of the Subcommittee on Digital Assets House Financial Services Committee which has been pushing for crypto legislation.

Their letter said that while some reports claim Binance is now cooperating, this is immaterial to criminal culpability because “Binance is only doing so after knowingly allowing its exchange to be used by terrorist organizations, and only after they have been caught.”

Lummis and Hill alleged that it is well-known that Tether knowingly facilitated the violations of sanctions by failing to conduct adequate customer due diligence despite knowing its product is used to facilitate terrorism.

Binance and Tether did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read More: U.S. Senate’s Banking Chairman Says Panel to ‘Crack Down’ on Crypto’s Terrorism Ties