A group of seven Democratic senators has initiated a request to the US Department of Justice regarding President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ). The initiators see this as a possible conflict of interest, as CZ has financial ties to a crypto project linked to the Trump family — World Liberty Financial (WLFI).

The letter is addressed to US Attorney General Pam Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. It was signed by Senators Elizabeth Warren, Chris Van Hollen, Bernard Sanders, Mazie Hirono, Richard Blumenthal, Jack Reed, and Jeffrey Merkley.

In the letter, they stated:

“The pardon–which signals to cryptocurrency executives and other white-collar criminals that they can commit crimes with impunity, so long as they enrich President Trump enough–seems likely to encourage, rather than discourage, criminal activity.”

The senators recalled the events of 2023, when Binance pleaded guilty to federal violations and agreed to pay more than $4 billion in fines. According to the US Department of Justice, non-compliance with the law allowed the company to conduct transactions related to:

• Terrorist financing
• Child exploitation
• Drug trafficking
• Sanctioned countries (Iran, Russia, DPRK)

CZ pleaded guilty to “deliberately failing to have an effective anti-money laundering programme in place” and was sentenced to 4 months in prison.

According to the senators, this situation showed:

“If you or your company violate the law, the U.S. government will investigate, prosecute, and convict you.”

The letter details a number of events:

• September 2024 — Trump and his family launched World Liberty Financial; CZ was released from prison the same month
• March 2025 — WLFI discusses the creation of a stablecoin based on Binance
• March 25, 2025 — USD1 stablecoin was launched on BSC
• Binance writes the core code for USD1 and promotes the token to 275 million users
• May 1, 2025 — a $2 billion investment in Binance by Emirati MGX in USD1 stablecoins was announced
• May 5, 2025 — CZ applied for a presidential pardon
• October 23, 2025 — Trump issued a full pardon

The senators concluded:

“It also gave the company a revenue stream that could be worth tens of millions of dollars annually.”

And they asked the question directly:

“Do you believe President Trump’s substantial business ties to Mr. Zhao influenced his decision to issue a pardon?”

They demand an answer by November 4, 2025.

In addition, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, said:

“CZ’s pardon is another glaring example of the pay-to-play corruption that has defined the Trump Administration from day one.”

She noted that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under Trump:

• Closed 89 cases against crypto companies, including Binance, Coinbase, Ripple, Kraken, and Robinhood
• Suspended supervisory functions due to the Republican shutdown that began on October 1
• Deprived investors of protection

“It’s telling crypto criminals that they can break the law, defraud investors, and get away with it, as long as they are also Trump’s benefactors.”

Thus, the Democrats see the pardon as a threat to the justice system, while the CZ team considers the accusations as defamation, which is subject to appeal.

In particular, Zhao’s lawyer Teresa Goody Guillen said in a letter to The Post:

“Mr Zhao will not remain silent. […] He immediately requests a retraction of these false statements […] and reserves his right to pursue all legal remedies.”

She also recalled the precedent of the US Supreme Court:

“Immunity ? Impunity. No money laundering charge. […] I can only explain it to you, but I cannot understand it for you.”

The investigation may become a precedent for the relationship between the state and the crypto industry — and influence future regulatory policy in the United States.

As a reminder, crypto projects have allowed the Trump family to earn over $1 billion.

Meanwhile, a growing number of government officials are preparing bills to ban high-ranking officials from owning crypto assets, including:

• Congressman Sam Liccardo’s Modern Emoluments and Malfeasance Enforcement (MEME) Act
• Curbing Officials’ Income and Nondisclosure (COIN) Act by Senator Adam Schiff
• Congressman Ro Khanna’s bill to prohibit elected officials from owning, trading, or creating cryptocurrencies