US President Donald Trump issued a statement on his pardon of Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, saying the former Binance CEO had been "persecuted" by the Biden administration.
"I did pardon a lot of people," Mr. Trump told reporters on Thursday afternoon. "He was recommended by a lot of people. You're talking about the guy in the cryptocurrency space? A lot of people don't think he committed any crimes."
Mr. Zhao, who served four months in prison before being released in September 2024, pleaded guilty in 2023 to failing to maintain an "effective anti-money laundering program" for which he paid a $50 million fine, while Binance, the cryptocurrency exchange he co-founded, agreed to pay $4.30 billion as part of the settlement.
CNN reporter Caitlan Collins asked Trump about the pardon, and Trump called his question "fake news" several times to show disparagement, and then said he had no personal relationship with Zhao Changpeng.
"I don't know him, and I'm sure I've never met him," Mr. Trump said. "But I was told he had a lot of support, and they said what he did wasn't even a crime... so at the request of a lot of very good people, I pardoned him."
Trump defends pardoning CZ: Believe I never met him, but he has a lot of support
2025-10-23 23:55:23
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