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Trump
Trump claims he doesn't know who Binance founder is despite pardoning him
60 Minutes
US president Donald Trump has caused alarm before when he said he didn’t know something, such as in May when he said he ‘doesn’t know’ when he was asked if he needs to uphold the US constitution (he does, as it’s legitimately part of the oath he made at his inauguration).
And now, during his latest interview with 60 Minutes, the convicted felon has said he ‘doesn’t know’ who Changpeng “CZ” Zhao is.
Pretty bizarre, given that CZ was pardoned by Trump just 10 days ago.
Back in 2023, Zhao pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering programme and agreed to step down as the CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance. He served four months in prison.
The company also agreed to pay a $4.3 billion settlement with the US Department of Justice, then under the control of President Joe Biden’s administration.
In a statement issued on 23 October, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “President Trump exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden administration in their war on cryptocurrency.
“In their desire to punish the cryptocurrency industry, the Biden administration pursued Mr Zhao despite no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims.”
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that following Trump’s inauguration last year, Binance created a “high-level task force to strike a deal” with World Liberty Financial – the cryptocurrency venture of which more than half is owned by members of the Trump family through an umbrella company.
The outlet says World Liberty Financial’s stablecoin product saw the value of its shares jump from $127 million to more than $2.1 billion following Binance’s intervention.
Elsewhere, Bloomberg claims that the USD1 technology which supports the stablecoin, which was built by Binance and launched in March, was used by Emirati state-backed fund MGX to invest $2 billion in Zhao’s company – a move which reportedly provided World Liberty with the opportunity to net potentially millions of dollars in interest.
World Liberty told the WSJ that Binance was not involved in the MGX deal, while a Binance lawyer said Zhao “did not act as the relationship facilitator or financier” between MGX and the Trump family crypto venture.
Tom Clare, World Liberty’s lawyer, told the WSJ that a pardon was never discussed and that the company “has never assisted in, facilitated, or influenced a decision on Mr Zhao’s presidential pardon”.
Getty
And Wayne F. Dennison, a lawyer for Binance, said there was “no impropriety” and that the company “did not control stablecoin chosen by MGX”.
Despite all of this, when 60 Minutes journalist Norah O’Donnell asked him about Zhao in their interview, Trump replied: “OK, are you ready? I don’t know who he is.
“I know that… the four-month sentence, or something like that, and I heard it was a Biden witch hunt.
“Here’s the thing: I know nothing about it, because I’m too busy doing the other…”
O’Donnell then said Binance “helped facilitate a $2 billion purchase of World Liberty Financial’s stablecoin”, with the pardon of CZ following suit, and asked Trump how he addresses “the appearance of ‘pay-for-play’”.
He replied: “I can only tell you this: my sons are into it, I’m glad they are, because it’s probably a great industry, crypto. I think it’s good.
“You know, they’re running a business; they’re not in government.”
The response from the Republican has since been met with disbelief and concern online:
News platform MeidasTouch called for an “immediate review” of all Trump pardons:
“Is the president just signing whatever random documents are put in front of him,” asked policy consultant Adam Cochran:
And many compared Trump’s comments in the interview to previous attacks on Biden by the president an fellow Republicans, which has seen them allege the Democrat used an autopen, a device which replicates signatures:
“But do go on about President Biden’s use of an autopen,” tweeted former US attorney Joyce Vance (who is not related to Vice President JD Vance):
And another account accused Trump of “peak hypocrisy”:
And to be clear, Biden and his former aids have denied that an autopen was ever used, instead claiming that the president was involved in “every decision” when it came to the signing of documents.
Why not read…
- Trump confuses internet as he insists he’s ‘the opposite’ of a Nazi
- Trump ridiculed as he claims he is 'much better looking' than Mamdani
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