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The White House carefully considered the pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao and went through standard procedures before sending it to President Donald Trump for his approval, says White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Trump defended the he apologized in an interview with CBS News’ 60 Minutes on Sundaysaying that he had “no idea” who is Zhao and dismissing the criticism of his pardon as politically motivated.
Leavitt he said in a briefing on Tuesday that Trump’s comments about Zhao in the interview were intended to convey that he “does not know him personally” and that the president “does not have a personal relationship with this individual.”
He added that the pardon was considered with “the utmost seriousness” and went through a “thorough review process” by the Justice Department and the White House Counsel’s Office.
“There is a whole team of qualified lawyers who look at every request for clemency that finally comes to the President of the United States,” he added. “He is the ultimate final decision maker.”
It follows many news suggest Binance and Zhao helped the cryptographic company of the Trump family, World Liberty Financial, with the construction of its stablecoin and used it in an investment agreement of $ 2 billion, which the CEO of Binance Richard Teng. he denied.
Trump “corrected” a mistake, says Leavitt
Leavitt claimed that Zhao was “excessively prosecuted by an armed DOJ,” and the Biden administration sought an excessive penalty as a result.
Zhao pleaded guilty in November 2023 to failing to maintain an effective Anti-Money Laundering program at Binance in violation of the US Bank Secrecy Act.
US prosecutors initially requested a three years in prison terms, but the sentence the judge rejected that “too hard” and instead opted for a four-month prison sentence, which Zhao will begin serving in April 2024.
“The president has righted that wrong, and officially ended the Biden administration’s war on the cryptocurrency industry, and I think that’s the message he sent with this pardon,” Leavitt said.
Zhao’s lawyer, Teresa Goody Guillén, and other supporters have argued it was a harsh sentence given that it was a single charge of failing to have an effective compliance program, and Zhao was a first-time non-violent offender.
60 Minutes cut question on crypto from show
In a section of Trump’s 60 Minutes interview that was cut from the broadcast, CBS’s Norah O’Donnell asked the president if he was concerned “about the appearance of corruption,” regarding Zhao’s pardon.
Related: Trump on the pardon of CZ: they tell me “what he did is not even a crime”
“I can’t say, because — I can’t say — I’m not worried. I don’t — I’d rather you not ask the question,” Trump replied. according to to a transcript of the interview.
He then added that the United States was “number one in crypto in the whole world” because he is the president, and that he didn’t want “China or anyone else to take it. It’s a massive industry.”
CBS’s YouTube video of his interview with Trump notes which was “condensed for clarity”.
Before the cut question, Trump said that his children are more involved in cryptography than he is, and he knows very “little about it, other than one thing. It’s a huge industry.”
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