Venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale, a prominent supporter of President Trump, suggested on Thursday that the president was “heavily advised” on his decision. Forgiveness Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance.
“I love President Trump; he’s probably the greatest administrator of my lifetime — excluding these pardons,” Lonsdale wrote in an article Thursday. Post on social platformJust hours after Trump issued a pardon for Zhao.
“If I’m calling balls and strikes, those are hit-by-pitch!! POTUS has been very badly advised on this; it makes it look like there’s massive fraud going on around him in this area,” he said.
Zhao convicted in 2023 For failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and ultimately providing a service Four months jail sentenceBinance paid $4.3 billion to settle various related charges with the Justice Department.
The White House, in announcing Zhao’s pardon, suggested that he had been “prosecuted by the Biden administration in the war on cryptocurrency.”
The move was immediately met with backlash from those who criticized Binance’s recent behavior. World Freedom FinancialThe crypto venture launched last year by Trump and his sons. In May, Emirati investment firm MGX invested $2 billion in Binance using the crypto firm’s new stablecoins.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) introduced a resolution Condemned Zhao’s pardon on Friday, calling on Congress to “use its authority to stop this form of corruption.”
“President Trump’s pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao is the latest example of the President using the pardon power as a means to reward wealthy donors and associates and enrich himself,” Schiff said in a statement. “This latest abuse of power undermines public trust and makes a mockery of equal justice under the law.”
Several of Trump’s other pardons have been scrutinized, including his recent decisionsfrom n reduce punishment Last week, former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) Santos was serving a Seven years jail sentence For wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
