The lawyer for Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has denied that he somehow paid for a pardon from US President Donald Trump.
Appearing on “Pompliano’s” Pomp Podcast “on Friday, CZ’s personal attorney Teresa Goody Guillén described the criticism surrounding CZ’s pardon as a “bunch of false statements. “
“The media keeps referring to World Liberty as Trump’s company, and I’ve seen nothing to show me that’s true,” he said, adding:
“People making these assumptions just shows a fundamental misunderstanding of how either business works or how blockchain works.”
CZ spent four months in prison in 2024 and had to withdraw from Binance on charges related to a failure to enforce anti-money laundering protocols at the firm.
The former CEO of Binance is Donald Trump pardoned in October, with President saying That’s what got locked up in CZ for “not a crime.”
Critics of the move, including Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, labeled the pardon as “corruption” as CZ “boosted” one of Trump’s crypto ventures and “lobbied for a pardon.”
The former The binance CEO is back That he can’t get his “facts right.”
Responding to Warren’s claims, Guillén questioned the immunity granted to US politicians, as he criticized Warren for incorrectly asserting that CZ was convicted of a crime “he was not convicted of,” along with allegations of additional “criminal liability” against him for the pardon.
“This is really an area where I hope we pay a little more attention because you know, the immunity given to these people is not what our founding fathers wanted,” he said.
Pardon is “justice,” CZ’s lawyer said
During an appearance on Pompliano’s podcast, Guillén argued that CZ was “pardoned for justice,” as he argued that CZ has become a scapegoat for the crypto war, while pointing out the lack of jail time in traditional finance for executives involved in similar legal issues.
Related: CZ said he was surprised by the pardon, denying ties to the Trump Family
“He is the only person who has ever been prosecuted and then worse, sent to prison for you know this specific charge or anything similar with the characteristics of like no fraud and no victims, no criminal history or anything like that,” he said, adding:
“I think it was part of the crypto war, and at that point, it was close after the FTX crash and I think the crypto war had to go against somebody, and they had to prosecute somebody and really prosecute somebody. And unfortunately, it ended up being binance and cz.”
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