Tornado Cash Trial: DOJ’s Telegram Chat Evidence Questioned, Lawyer Accuses Manipulation

Jakarta, Pintu News – The Tornado Cash trial is heating up after the legal team for Roman Storm, co-founder of the crypto mixer protocol, accused US prosecutors (DOJ) of submitting incomplete Telegram chat evidence and potentially misleading the jury. The evidence was instrumental in the process of establishing charges of money laundering conspiracy and operating an illegal money transfer business against Storm.

Telegram Chat Proof Authentication Issues

The crux of the matter lies in the Telegram chat logs from the cell phone of Storm’s colleague Alexey Pertsev, which were extracted by Dutch authorities and handed over to the US government. Initially, prosecutors only shared a version of the chats without important metadata that would have shown the “forwarded message” status. This, according to Storm’s lawyers, could have made the messages appear as if they were Storm’s, when they were actually forwarded from another party.

It wasn’t until December 2024 that the US government provided a version of the chat with the correct markers-three months after prosecutors told the court that the evidence had been fully shared. The defense team argued that this omission increased the risk of misinformation to the jury, as messages ostensibly from Storm could lead to false assumptions about money laundering intent.

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Legal Impact and Implications for the Judicial Process

This error in the presentation of evidence opens the door to questioning the validity and authentication of the chats under the US federal rules of evidence. Legal experts consider that without the sender’s metadata, Telegram chat evidence is vulnerable to being considered hearsay (indirect evidence) and is prone to being dismissed because authenticity is difficult to ascertain.

In addition, the delay in disclosing evidence adds weight to the defense, especially if there is a pattern of negligence or withholding of information by the prosecutor. The Brady Rule in US law states that prosecutors must correct any errors or misrepresentations of evidence throughout the judicial process. If proven, this could strengthen Storm’s position at trial and even invalidate some of the incriminating evidence.

Chronology and Parties’ Reactions

Federal prosecutors have acknowledged the error in the version of the Telegram chat that was first shared, but insist that the final version with the correct markers was provided long before the trial began. They also argued that the format of the evidence did not affect the authenticity of the messages.

Storm’s legal team continued to emphasize that without the original metadata, the messages could not be used to prove criminal intent or action. They likened the case to a threat victim forwarding a message to the police, where the victim is not automatically considered the perpetrator of the threat.

Conclusion

The Tornado Cash case now tests not only the legal limits of blockchain technology and crypto mixers, but also the standards of electronic evidence in the US judicial system. The outcome of this dispute could set an important precedent for future cybercrime and crypto cases, both in terms of the authentication of digital evidence and the right of defense of the accused.

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Reference

• Decrypt. Tornado Cash’s Roman Storm Alleges DOJ Botched Key Telegram Evidence. Accessed July 15, 2025.