Balgarianovinite.com
Bret Baier pressed a recently pardoned cryptocurrency kingpin about possible ties to President Donald Trump’s own crypto venture.
Last month, Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao. In 2023, Zhao resigned as the CEO of Binance and pleaded guilty to allowing money laundering on the crypto platform. He served four months in prison. After Trump’s victory in 2024, Binance “formed a high-level task force to strike a deal with the Trumps’ nascent cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial, that Binance could leverage into clemency for Zhao,” according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited sources familiar with the matter. The publication added that Binance “catapulted the Trump family venture’s new stablecoin product, enhancing its credibility and pushing its market capitalization up from $127 million to over $2.1 billion.”
Despite pardoning Zhao, Trump has claimed he knows nothing about him.
“I don’t know who he is,” Trump told 60 Minutes on Sunday. “I know he got a four-month sentence or something like that. And I heard it was a Biden witch hunt.”
Zhao appeared on Friday’s Special Report on Fox News, where he denied having any business with World Liberty Financial, which was co-founded by the president’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. The Binance founder said he was “surprised” by the pardon, which prompted this exchange:
BAIER: You say you were surprised by the pardon. How did it come about?
ZHAO: So, what I meant by “surprise” is I don’t know when or if it’s gonna happen. So, I believe my lawyers submitted the petition in April. It took a few months. I don’t know the progress. There was no indication of how far it went along, et cetera. So, then it just happened one day.
BAIER: Yeah. You understand the skeptics who look at this and say, “Obviously you were doing some business with a firm that’s tied to President Trump’s sons. And we’re talking about millions and millions of dollars worth.” So, you’re saying that’s not the reason you got the pardon?
ZHAO: Absolutely not. I think those are completely categorically false information. I do not have any business relationship with any of the sons of President Trump.
BAIER: Here’s how The Wall Street journal writes it: “Around the time of the election, Zhao’s representatives began discussions with allies of Trump wanted to find a solution to Binance’s legal troubles in the U.S. and offering a deal with a Trump family business. Once Trump won, Binance formed high-level task force to strike a deal with the Trumps’ nascent cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial, that Binance could leverage into clemency for Zhao.” Is that not accurate?
ZHAO: That’s complete not accurate. There’s no deal. There has never been any discussions. It’s as simple as that.
BAIER: You’re saying there is no connection to the Trump sons who obviously do this firm, World Liberty Financial.
ZHAO: There’s no business relationships between me, Binance, and World Liberty Financial. So, I think all of those connections are categorially false. They just don’t exist.
Watch above via Fox News.
The post Fox’s Bret Baier Grills Crypto Kingpin Pardoned by Trump: ‘You’re Saying There’s No Connection to the Trump Sons?’ first appeared on Mediaite.
Fox’s Bret Baier Grills Crypto Kingpin Pardoned by Trump: ‘You’re Saying There’s No Connection to the Trump Sons?’ 2025 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2025-11-08 02:23:13 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law