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Democrats Blast Trump’s ‘Corrupt’ CZ Pardon — Claim Crypto Lobby Spent Millions

Democratic lawmakers are accusing President Donald Trump of political corruption after his controversial resolution to pardon former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, reigniting tensions between the White House and Congress over crypto business affect in U.S. politics.

In a sharply worded letter addressed to Attorney General Pamela Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a gaggle of Democratic senators, led by Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Chris Van Hollen, Jack Reed, and Mazie Hirono, demanded explanations on how Trump’s pardon may impression future white-collar and cryptocurrency-related prosecutions.

Source: The Letter

The lawmakers stated the transfer “indicators to cryptocurrency executives and different white-collar criminals that they will commit crimes with impunity, as long as they enrich President Trump sufficient.”

Was the CZ Pardon Justice — or a Favor? Lawmakers Want Answers

The letter referenced Zhao’s 2023 responsible plea to federal costs for failing to keep up an ample anti-money-laundering program at Binance.

The firm was ordered to pay more than $4.3 billion in fines after federal investigators concluded it had facilitated transactions linked to sanctioned international locations, terrorists, and baby exploitation networks.

Zhao himself served 4 months in jail before being released in mid-2024.

Senators warned that the pardon undermines years of regulation enforcement work by the Department of Justice, Treasury Department, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which coordinated the case.

“The pardon publicly and flagrantly undermines the work of the federal regulation enforcement groups that spent years investigating and prosecuting Binance’s offenses,” the lawmakers wrote.

They referred to as for detailed responses from Bondi and Bessent by November 4, asking whether or not Trump’s enterprise connections with Zhao influenced his resolution.

The outrage follows mounting proof of deepening monetary ties between the Trump household and Zhao’s community within the months main as much as the pardon.

Sen. Warren, Rep. Waters Slam Trump’s Pardon of CZ Amid Stablecoin Scandal

Binance reportedly held discussions with World Liberty Financial, a crypto firm launched in 2024 by Trump, his sons, and actual property developer Steve Witkoff, about growing a stablecoin.

In March 2025, World Liberty Financial introduced the launch of USD1, a token minted on Binance Smart Chain. Later reports revealed Binance had written the token’s underlying code and promoted it to its 275 million customers.

In May, an Emirati agency linked to Witkoff introduced a $2 billion USD1 investment in Binance, a deal that reportedly generated tens of tens of millions in potential income for Trump’s enterprise pursuits.

Just months later, on October 23, Trump granted Zhao a presidential pardon.

“This seems to be a transparent instance of political corruption,” Sen. Warren said last week, accusing Trump of “promoting pardons to rich allies.”

In a submit on X, she added, “CZ pleaded responsible to prison violations and went to jail. Then he financed Trump’s stablecoin and lobbied for a pardon. If Congress doesn’t cease this sort of corruption, it owns it.”

Representative Maxine Waters also condemned the decision, calling it “an appalling however unsurprising reflection of Trump’s presidency.”

In an announcement, she accused Trump of prioritizing “crypto criminals who’ve helped line his pockets” whereas Americans face rising residing prices and an ongoing government shutdown.

“Trump’s pardon of CZ successfully legitimizes the crypto crime he was convicted of,” Waters stated.

Zhao, in response, expressed gratitude for the pardon, saying he would “assist U.S. management in digital belongings” and assist “make America the Capital of Crypto.”

He denied immediately funding Trump’s stablecoin enterprise, dismissing media experiences as “misinformation” from rivals.

Crypto’s Political Spending Under Fire as Trump’s CZ Pardon Sparks Backlash

The controversy comes amid rising scrutiny of crypto’s position in U.S. politics. In March 2025 the Center for Political Accountability discovered that cryptocurrency companies spent more than $134 million on the 2024 election cycle, a thirteenfold improve from the earlier presidential race.

Much of that cash was funneled via Fairshake, a strong political motion committee backed by Coinbase, Ripple, and enterprise capital agency Andreessen Horowitz, which spent over $40 million supporting pro-crypto candidates.

Separately, Federal Election Commission filings present that Trump’s marketing campaign committee, Trump, raised roughly $7.5 million in crypto donations between July and September 2024.

Contributions got here in Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, and a number of other stablecoins. Major business figures, together with BTC Inc. CEO David Bailey, Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty, and BitGo CEO Mike Belshe, had been among the many donors.

Democrats argue that such monetary ties have created a harmful overlap between political affect and regulatory outcomes.

“After Binance and Zhao supplied the Trump household with a multi-million-dollar income stream, Trump pardoned him,” the senators’ letter said. “It sends the message that company criminals can violate the regulation and nonetheless stroll free — so long as they assist the President.”

The political fallout is already extending past the White House. On Monday, Representative Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) announced plans to introduce legislation banning elected officials from owning or launching cryptocurrencies.

While Trump’s allies have defended the pardon as a essential correction of what they describe as prosecutorial overreach, the backlash has intensified requires tighter moral guidelines and better transparency round political donations from the crypto business.

The submit Democrats Blast Trump’s ‘Corrupt’ CZ Pardon — Claim Crypto Lobby Spent Millions appeared first on Cryptonews.

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