{"id":386559,"date":"2025-11-18T02:26:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T02:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/386559\/"},"modified":"2025-11-18T02:26:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T02:26:19","slug":"60-minutes-exposes-trumps-nuts-2-billion-crypto-pardon-for-binances-changpeng-zhao","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/386559\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201860 Minutes\u2019 Exposes Trump\u2019s \u2018Nuts\u2019 $2 Billion Crypto Pardon for Binance’s Changpeng Zhao"},"content":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump\u2019s pardon for a billionaire Chinese felon with financial links to his family has been called out as \u201ccorruption\u201d on 60 Minutes.<\/p>\n

Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao, founder of cryptocurrency firm Binance, last month. He had pleaded guilty<\/a> to money-laundering violations that allowed criminal groups to move money connected to drug trafficking and child abuse. Zhao resigned in November 2023 before spending four months in prison from April to September 2024.<\/p>\n

The October 2025 pardon came just months after Binance struck a $2 billion deal in partnership with the Trump family\u2019s crypto venture, World Liberty Financial.<\/p>\n

Asked about the pardon last month on 60 Minutes, Trump said he had \u201cno idea\u201d who Zhao was and did not remember<\/a> him, and previously told reporters at the White House \u201che had a lot of support… so I gave him a pardon at the request of a lot of very good people.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\"Zhao'sZhao arriving at court in Seattle in 2024 where he was sentenced to four months for money laundering. JASON REDMOND\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

But on Sunday 60 Minutes braved Trump\u2019s fresh wrath\u2014after its then-ultimate owners forked over $16 million to the president to end a lawsuit over a claim the show had deceptively edited a Kamala Harris interview, and in the wake of it gaining new MAGA-curious owners, including a boss praised by Trump himself.<\/p>\n

On the show, former U.S. Pardon Attorney Elizabeth Oyer, who worked for the Justice Department, said Zhao\u2019s case was \u201cunusual.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe influence that money played in securing this pardon is unprecedented,\u201d Oyer said on Sunday\u2019s 60 Minutes<\/a>. \u201cThe self-dealing aspect of the pardon in terms of the benefit that it conferred on President Trump, and his family, and people in his inner circle is also unprecedented.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is absolutely not justice,\u201c she added. \u201cThis is corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oyer was fired in March when she refused to reinstate<\/a> Mel Gibson\u2019s gun rights, which he lost after a domestic violence conviction. She was replaced by a Trump loyalist.<\/p>\n

\"ElizabethElizabeth Oyer on 60 Minutes. screen grab <\/p>\n

60 Minutes said Binance had also donated software to World Liberty Financial to help Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump launch their cryptocurrency, with the program quoting a source who said without Zhao \u201cthe technology doesn\u2019t exist.\u201d <\/p>\n

In May, around the same time that Zhao applied for a pardon, an Emirati fund made a $2 billion investment in Binance, with the deal done in World Liberty crypto, a currency that had only been on the market for five weeks.<\/p>\n

A source told 60 Minutes that \u201cit wasn\u2019t strange, it was nuts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harvard legal scholar and political activist Lawrence Lessig told the program of the currency selection: \u201cThe only reason it makes sense is to ingratiate with the president.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no clear evidence of quid pro quo,\u201d Lessig added. \u201cBut there wouldn\u2019t be. Nobody is so stupid as to conduct themselves with that explicit structure. Instead, it\u2019s the culture of giving and exchanging in a much more informal way that we clearly know is happening right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"EricTrump’s two older sons, Don Jr. and Eric, are closely involved in the crypto venture. Spencer Platt\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Lessig added \u201cZhao\u2019s Binance left the $2 billion deposited in World Liberty Financial. That money could be earning interest for the Trump\u2019s and their partners of $80 million a year. Also, $2 billion represents most of World Liberty\u2019s deposits.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement to the Daily Beast, World Liberty Financial spokesman David Wachsman said, \u201cIt\u2019s disappointing that a once-respected news program like 60 Minutes would conduct such disgraceful and false reporting.” <\/p>\n

Wachsman stated there were no conflicts of interest between World Liberty Financial and the U.S. administration. \u201cThe independent actions of the President of the United States have nothing to do with the enterprising business of a private DeFi company like WLFI. There has never been any sort of political quid pro quo \u2014 nor could there ever be, as there is no connection.”<\/p>\n

Wachsman said Binance is not an investor in World Liberty Financial.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe WLFI governance token and USD1, World Liberty Financial\u2019s GENIUS Act-compliant stablecoin, are traded on Binance, but so too are hundreds of competitor tokens. 60 Minutes failed to make clear a simple fact: when MGX selected USD1 as its stablecoin of choice for their historic investment in Binance, they did so because it was the best technology available.”<\/p>\n

Teresa Goody Guill\u00e9n, an attorney for Zhao and Binance told The Daily Beast the claims on 60 Minutes were \u201cfalse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c60 Minutes relied on claims of corruption made by a former Pardon Attorney, regarding a pardon application submitted after her departure from the pardon office. To be clear, neither Binance nor Mr. Zhao have had any investment in\u2014nor direct or indirect financial relationship with\u2014the Trump family or their businesses, nor involvement in the launch of World Liberty Financial.”<\/p>\n

\"U.S.U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One on November 16, 2025 at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida. Roberto Schmidt\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

In a statement to the Daily Beast, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had exercised his \u201cconstitutional authority\u201d by pardoning Zhoa, claiming he had been prosecuted by the Biden administration in their \u201cwar on cryptocurrency\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn their desire to punish the cryptocurrency industry, the Biden Administration pursued Mr. Zhao despite no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims,\u201d Leavitt said. \u201cThe Biden Administration sought to imprison Mr. Zhao for three years, a sentence so outside Sentencing Guidelines that the even the Judge said he had never heard of this in his 30-year career.”<\/p>\n

\u201cThese actions by the Biden Administration severely damaged the United States\u2019 reputation as a global leader in technology and innovation,\u201d she added. \u201cThe Biden Administration\u2019s war on crypto is over.\u201d <\/p>\n

Zhao, according to a 60 Minutes source, \u201cnow controls whether [World Liberty] dies or lives. He has a sword over their head.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LawrenceLawrence Lessig on 60 Minutes. screen grab <\/p>\n

Constitutional scholar Michael Gerhardt, who teaches at the University of North Carolina, said Donald Trump does not have to be involved in his family\u2019s financial deals to know he benefits from them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey do not benefit the people of the United States so that makes it a classic example of a conflict of interest the Constitution is designed to prevent,\u201d Gerhardt said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has divided loyalties, he\u2019s got people who have invested in his business he wants to keep happy. But there\u2019s also the additional problem that the president is using his office and the resources of his office in other words our money, federal tax dollars to help promote that business.\u201d <\/p>\n

Earlier this month, 60 Minutes interviewed Trump for the first time since CBS\u2019 parent company Paramount agreed to pay the president $16 million to settle a lawsuit. The company has since installed MAGA-curious Bari Weiss as editor in chief of CBS News.<\/p>\n

Anchor Norah O\u2019Donnell asked the president if he was \u201cconcerned about the appearance of corruption\u201d after pardoning Zhao. The second time O\u2019Donnell asked, along with Trump\u2019s answer, was cut from the final edit, but made available in an online transcript.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t say, because\u2014I can\u2019t say\u2014I\u2019m not concerned. I don\u2019t\u2014I\u2019d rather not have you ask the question. But I let you ask it. You just came to me and you said, \u2018Can I ask another question?\u2019 And I said, yeah. This is the question…” Trump answered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Donald Trump\u2019s pardon for a billionaire Chinese felon with financial links to his family has been called out…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":386560,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[15327,7566,64,162978,77,1605,39024,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-386559","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-60-minutes","9":"tag-bitcoin","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-changpeng-zhao","12":"tag-donald-j-trump","13":"tag-donald-trump-jr","14":"tag-eric-trump","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115568337820288356","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}