**Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao’s Lawyer Denies Allegations of Paying for Trump Pardon**
Allegations that Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) paid for the presidential pardon he received from U.S. President Donald Trump have been categorically denied by Zhao’s lawyer, Teresa Goody Guillen.
Speaking on the *Pomp Podcast*, hosted by crypto investor Anthony Pompliano, Goody Guillen stated that such a deal “will never happen.” During the program, Pompliano asked whether Trump controlled a secret Bitcoin wallet and if CZ or Binance had paid into it in exchange for the pardon. Guillen called this claim baseless, highlighting the transparency of blockchain transactions.
“If something like this happened, it would have been visible on the blockchain. CZ is not like that,” Guillen said.
Following Trump’s re-election last year, Binance’s relationship with the Trump family reportedly grew stronger. Around the same time, CZ, who was serving a four-month prison sentence, requested and was granted a presidential pardon. These developments fueled suspicions of a potential “conflict of interest” in some political circles.
Among those raising these allegations was Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren. In October, Warren remarked, “If Congress doesn’t stop this kind of corruption, it becomes complicit in it.”
CZ admitted to violating the Bank Secrecy Act of 2023. In his plea, he acknowledged that Binance failed to prevent criminals, sanctioned entities, and other illicit actors from laundering billions of dollars through its platform.
After the election, Binance became affiliated with World Liberty Financial, a company owned by Trump and his family. The Trump family’s DT Marks DEFI LLC initially owned 75% of the company; today, that share stands at 38%. The family also holds 22.5 billion World Liberty tokens, with 75% of sales going to DT Marks.
Guillen described news reports linking World Liberty and Binance as “a combination of false statements.”
“There are many claims that are not based on a source. ‘A source close to someone’ is usually not a strong source,” Guillen explained.
He argued that CZ’s pardon was purely a matter of “justice” and emphasized that CZ’s crime was a “regulatory violation” commonly encountered by major financial institutions.
“Many of the major financial institutions have been accused of similar violations, but their executives are not going to jail,” Guillen added.
*This is not investment advice.*
https://bitcoinethereumnews.com/tech/czs-lawyer-responds-to-claims-behind-binance-founder-czs-pardon-by-donald-trump/
