Trump’s CZ pardon draws fury from Maxine Waters over ‘pay-to-play’ crypto ties

Representative Maxine Waters strongly condemned President Donald Trump's decision to pardon Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, labeling it a corrupt favor. Waters, the top Democrat on the House Committee on Financial Services, stated that Zhao pleaded guilty to enabling money laundering and facilitating suspicious transactions, calling the pardon an "appalling but unsurprising reflection" of Trump's presidency. Trump defended the pardon, claiming many people told him Zhao was not guilty and that he was "persecuted by the Biden Administration."

Waters countered that the pardon was a result of Zhao lobbying Trump and his family while funneling billions into Trump’s personal crypto company, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), characterizing it as blatant "pay-to-play corruption." These claims align with reports that Trump’s potential second term has coincided with a significant increase in his personal wealth derived from his family's cryptocurrency ventures, which have reportedly generated over $1 billion in pre-tax profit. WLFI, founded by Trump’s sons and associates, has sold billions in tokens, and Trump disclosed substantial income from his involvement, with his family's stake recently surging to an estimated $5 billion.

(Source：Cointelegraph)