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Seven Senate Democrats accused former President Donald Trump of pardoning Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao to benefit his family’s crypto business interests, demanding the Department of Justice investigate potential ‘self-dealing and corruption’ in the controversial clemency decision.
In a sharply worded letter released Tuesday, the senators said Trump’s CZ pardon “signals to cryptocurrency executives and other white-collar criminals that they can commit crimes with impunity.” The lawmakers accused the former president of using his office to reward individuals who financially benefited him.
The CZ pardon, issued last week, cleared Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao of criminal charges tied to violations of the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act. Zhao had pleaded guilty in 2024 to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program at Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
The senators said the move could undermine public trust in the justice system. “This pardon will make it harder for federal law enforcement to fight and deter crime,” the letter stated.
The senators’ letter also alleged potential links between the CZ pardon and Trump’s family business ventures, particularly his involvement in World Liberty Financial (WLFI) — a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform launched last year.
Reports have connected WLFI to Binance’s operations, including claims that Zhao facilitated meetings for WLFI’s leadership team and that Binance contributed to the code for WLFI’s stablecoin, USD1.
“After Mr. Zhao’s company provided President Trump and his family with a revenue stream worth millions of dollars, President Trump pardoned him for criminal activity that he admitted to conducting,” the senators wrote.
The CZ pardon has therefore sparked concerns of a potential quid pro quo, with critics suggesting that Binance and Trump’s associates maintained overlapping financial interests.
Earlier reports also cited lobbying disclosures showing that Binance spent roughly $450,000 on Trump-linked lobbyists and $290,000 on legal services from Teresa Goody Guillén, a former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair candidate who represented Zhao.
The CZ pardon has already drawn criticism from both chambers of Congress. Representative Maxine Waters, ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, said last week that Trump was “doing massive favors for crypto criminals who have helped line his pockets.”
Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Chris Van Hollen, Mazie Hirono, Richard Blumenthal, Jack Reed, and Jeffrey Merkley signed the latest letter demanding accountability. They requested that the DOJ clarify how the CZ pardon might affect ongoing investigations into financial crime and crypto-related offenses.
They also asked whether Trump’s personal or political relationships with Zhao or Binance played a role in the decision. “We must know whether this pardon represents another instance of self-dealing and corruption,” the letter stated.
The controversy comes at a time when the U.S. government is under pressure to establish clearer regulations for digital assets. Critics argue that the CZ pardon sends a troubling message about selective justice and favoritism in crypto enforcement.
The CZ pardon has reignited debate over how the United States approaches accountability in the fast-growing digital asset sector. With Binance previously fined billions of dollars for compliance failures, many policymakers fear that Trump’s intervention could embolden other industry leaders to disregard regulatory oversight.
Trump defended his decision during a rally last week, saying “people told me what he did was not even a crime.” That remark drew backlash from legal experts who noted that Zhao had formally admitted guilt in a plea agreement.
The senators warned that without clear action from the DOJ, the CZ pardon could “publicly and flagrantly undermine the work of federal law enforcement” and embolden other financial actors to flout compliance obligations.
For now, all eyes are on Attorney General Pam Bondi and the DOJ’s response to the inquiry — a test not just of legal accountability, but of how far political influence may extend into America’s evolving crypto landscape.
