The White Home has defended President Donald Trump’s controversial pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ), dismissing allegations of corruption and conflicts of curiosity because the crypto govt’s clemency continues to attract scrutiny from lawmakers and critics.
Throughout a press briefing on Tuesday, White Home Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed questions surrounding the pardon, emphasizing that the administration takes clemency choices with “utmost seriousness” and maintains a radical evaluation course of involving the Division of Justice and White Home Counsel’s workplace.
Presidential Pardon Course of Below Fireplace
Leavitt defended Trump’s resolution to pardon Zhao, stating that the Binance founder was a sufferer of the “Biden administration’s battle on the cryptocurrency business.”
She famous that even the choose in Zhao’s case discovered the Biden administration’s advisable sentencing “egregious and went too far.”
“The president is correcting that improper and he has formally ended the Biden administration’s battle on the cryptocurrency business,” Leavitt mentioned in the course of the briefing.
She added that Trump focuses on pardoning people who have been “abused and utilized by the Biden Division of Justice and have been overprosecuted by a weaponized DOJ.“
When pressed about Trump’s relationship with Zhao, Leavitt clarified that the president “doesn’t know him personally” and “doesn’t have a private relationship with this particular person.”
This assertion got here after Trump himself informed CBS’s 60 Minutes on Sunday that he didn’t know who Zhao is, regardless of having granted the pardon.
🇺🇸 60 minutes questions Trump on his pardon of CZ
Trump says he ‘doesn’t know who CZ is’ and ‘it was a Biden witch hunt’
On controversy round Binance’s buy of $2B $WLFI, he says he ‘is aware of nothing about it’
Ignorance or good political distancing? 👇 pic.twitter.com/HLp2SyD7VA
— CoinGape (@CoinGapeMedia) November 3, 2025
Trump Household Crypto Ties Increase Questions
The pardon has sparked intense scrutiny on account of reported connections between Binance and World Liberty Monetary, a cryptocurrency enterprise backed by the Trump household.
Again in March, Binance facilitated a $2 billion buy of USD1, the stablecoin created by World Liberty Monetary, by means of Abu Dhabi’s state-owned funding agency MGX.
Throughout his 60 Minutes interview, Trump dismissed questions concerning the deal, saying, “I do know nothing about it as a result of I’m too busy.”
When requested about his household’s involvement in crypto, the president insisted his sons are “working a enterprise” independently with out authorities involvement.
Lawmakers Cry Foul Over Alleged Corruption
Senator Elizabeth Warren has been among the many most vocal critics, accusing Trump of “blatant corruption” for pardoning Zhao after Binance reportedly boosted the Trump household’s crypto tasks.
Senator Chris Murphy additionally weighed in, calling the White Home “a full time, 24/7 corruption machine.“
Zhao pleaded responsible in 2023 to violating anti-money laundering legal guidelines by failing to take care of satisfactory controls at Binance.
He served 4 months in jail earlier than receiving presidential clemency in October.
The pardon has prompted Consultant Ro Khanna to suggest laws banning elected officers from proudly owning or launching cryptocurrencies.
Binance CEO Richard Teng himself has not too long ago rejected corruption claims, telling CNBC that the trade’s itemizing of USD1 was a “purely enterprise resolution” and that MGX independently selected to make use of the stablecoin for its transaction.
Teng famous that different main exchanges, together with Coinbase, Robinhood, and Kraken, had already listed USD1 earlier than Binance.
Authorized Battle Looms as CZ Threatens Defamation Swimsuit
The controversy has escalated into potential authorized motion, with Zhao threatening to sue Senator Warren for defamation over her criticism of his felony conviction.
Nevertheless, Warren’s lawyer dismissed the menace in a letter, stating that her feedback about Zhao’s responsible plea have been “factually correct and supported by public information.“
Because it stands now, the trade is exploring choices to re-enter the U.S. market following the pardon.
The crypto trade at present operates Binance.US as a separate entity, capturing lower than 1% of U.S. Bitcoin quantity in comparison with practically 40% globally for its worldwide platform.
