Key Takeaways
- • Dan Loeb, founder and CEO of Third Point LLC, publicly disclosed that the DOJ threatened President Trump in January 2021, warning it would "go after" him if he commuted Ross Ulbricht's sentence, causing Trump to withdraw the commutation action.
- • Ulbricht, creator of the Bitcoin-powered Silk Road marketplace, remained incarcerated for four additional years following the withdrawn commutation before receiving a full presidential pardon in January 2025 during Trump's second term.
- • The claim represents the first public disclosure of a direct DOJ threat during the final hours of Trump's first presidency, though it has not been independently corroborated and no specific DOJ official has been named.
- • Jeffrey A. Rosen served as Acting Attorney General at the time of the alleged threat, with Richard Donoghue as Acting Deputy Attorney General, both overseeing the Office of the Pardon Attorney.
- • Loeb's disclosure highlights the intersection of criminal justice reform advocacy, cryptocurrency policy, and executive clemency processes during a politically sensitive transition period.
Summary
Hedge fund manager Dan Loeb has publicly revealed that the Department of Justice threatened President Donald Trump during the final day of his first term in January 2021, warning it would "go after" the president if he granted clemency to Ross Ulbricht. According to Loeb's account on the All-In Podcast, the threat prompted Trump to withdraw a planned commutation that appeared imminent. Loeb stated: "On the last day of Trump's 45th term, we were certain that he was going to get out. And the Justice Department, for whatever reason, said, 'If you commute his sentence, we're going to go after you,' to the president. So he, as I understand, he withdrew the commutation."
Ulbricht, the creator of Silk Road—a marketplace that operated on blockchain technology—was serving a life sentence related to the platform's operations. The withdrawn commutation in January 2021 extended Ulbricht's incarceration by four years until he received a full presidential pardon in January 2025 during Trump's second term. Loeb's disclosure suggests that the advocacy coalition supporting Ulbricht's clemency, which included cryptocurrency figures Riva Tez and Charlie Kirk as well as then-White House counsel David Warrington, was positioned to secure the commutation before facing DOJ resistance.
The claim marks the first public disclosure of such a direct threat from DOJ leadership in Trump's first term's final hours. However, the account remains unverified by independent sources, and no specific DOJ official has been publicly identified as delivering the warning. At the time, Jeffrey A. Rosen served as Acting Attorney General following William Barr's departure in December 2020, with Richard Donoghue as Acting Deputy Attorney General. Both officials oversaw the Office of the Pardon Attorney, though Trump frequently bypassed standard clemency review processes for politically sensitive cases.
The revelation underscores tensions between executive clemency power, institutional DOJ positions on criminal justice outcomes, and the emerging political significance of cryptocurrency policy during the Trump administration's transition. Loeb's public recounting suggests the alleged threat proved decisive in preventing the commutation at that critical juncture, a decision reversed through the full pardon mechanism five years later.
Ulbricht, the creator of Silk Road—a marketplace that operated on blockchain technology—was serving a life sentence related to the platform's operations. The withdrawn commutation in January 2021 extended Ulbricht's incarceration by four years until he received a full presidential pardon in January 2025 during Trump's second term. Loeb's disclosure suggests that the advocacy coalition supporting Ulbricht's clemency, which included cryptocurrency figures Riva Tez and Charlie Kirk as well as then-White House counsel David Warrington, was positioned to secure the commutation before facing DOJ resistance.
The claim marks the first public disclosure of such a direct threat from DOJ leadership in Trump's first term's final hours. However, the account remains unverified by independent sources, and no specific DOJ official has been publicly identified as delivering the warning. At the time, Jeffrey A. Rosen served as Acting Attorney General following William Barr's departure in December 2020, with Richard Donoghue as Acting Deputy Attorney General. Both officials oversaw the Office of the Pardon Attorney, though Trump frequently bypassed standard clemency review processes for politically sensitive cases.
The revelation underscores tensions between executive clemency power, institutional DOJ positions on criminal justice outcomes, and the emerging political significance of cryptocurrency policy during the Trump administration's transition. Loeb's public recounting suggests the alleged threat proved decisive in preventing the commutation at that critical juncture, a decision reversed through the full pardon mechanism five years later.
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