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Hassan Shittu
Journalist
Hassan Shittu
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The White House has defended President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, confirming that the clemency followed a “thorough review process” by both the Justice Department and the White House Counsel’s Office.
talk in a press briefing Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the pardon was reviewed “with the utmost seriousness” and went through the same standard procedures applied to all cases that reach the president’s desk.
“There is a whole team of qualified lawyers looking at every request for clemency,” he said. “The president is the ultimate final decision maker.”
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Trump, in a recent CBS 60 Minutes interview, defended his decision to pardon Zhaosaying he had “no idea who it is” and rejecting suggestions the move was politically motivated.
Leavitt later explained that the president meant that he did not know Zhao personally and had no previous relationship with him.
The White House statement comes amid growing criticism from Democratic lawmakers, who argue that the pardon was influenced by Zhao’s financial ties to the Trump family’s crypto firm, World Liberty Financial.
Recent reports suggest that Binance had assisted in developing a stablecoin for the companyand it is was involved in a $2 billion investment deal, claims denied from Binance CEO Richard Teng.
During the extended segment of Trump’s 60 Minutes interview, CBS anchor Norah O’Donnell asked whether pardoning Zhao created “the appearance of corruption,” given Binance’s reported business ties to the Trump family.
Trump rejected the suggestion, calling Zhao’s case a “Biden witch hunt.”
He added that while his children are active in the digital asset industry, his own participation is limited, describing crypto as a “major industry” essential to maintaining the competitiveness of the United States against China.
Specifically, Leavitt said Zhao was “excessively prosecuted by an armed DOJ,” claiming that the Biden administration pursued an excessive sentence.
“Even the judge in his case said that the punishment that was sought was egregious,” he added. “The president is correcting that mistake and has officially ended the Biden administration’s war on the cryptocurrency industry.”
Zhao pleaded guilty in November 2023 to failure to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program at Binancea violation of the Bank Secrecy Act.
Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of three years in prison, but the sentencing judge said it was too harsh and instead imposed a sentence of four months, which began to be served in April 2024 and was released in September of the same year.
Lawmakers demand probe into Trump’s financial ties after CZ Pardon
The pardon reignited political controversy in Washington. Senator Elizabeth Warren called “an example of political corruption”, claiming that Zhao had funded Trump’s stablecoin project and lobbied for clemency.
MP Maxine Waters said the decision “legitimises crypto crime” and accused Trump of “doing massive favors for crypto criminals who helped line his pockets.”
A group of Democratic senators, including Warren, Bernie Sanders, Chris Van Hollen and Jack Reed, sent a letter to Attorney General Pamela Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent demanding explanations about whether Trump’s financial ties to Zhao influenced the decision.
Zhao’s legal team has he has since threatened to sue Senator Warren for defamation after she referred to her case as “criminal money laundering,” which her lawyers say mischaracterizes the prosecution.
Warren’s attorney denied the claimmaintaining his statement was accurate and based on the public record.
In particular, the pardon removes previous restrictions that had prevented Zhao from engaging in financial businesses, although it is not clear how it will affect his position with US regulators or his role at Binance.
