'He's not innocent': Republican denounces Trump's pardon of Chinese billionaire
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an announcement regarding his administration's policies against cartels and human trafficking, from the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 23, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
President Donald Trump recently announced he was officially pardoning Changpeng Zhao, who is the former CEO of cryptocurrency company Binance. One member of his party is now publicly condemning the act.
Politico reported Thursday that after Trump pardoned Zhao — a Chinese-born Canadian resident who is ranked as the 21st richest person in the world with a net worth in excess of $87 billion — Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said it sent "a bad signal."
"I don’t like it,” said Tillis, who is not running for another term next year. "He was convicted. He’s not innocent."
Zhao pleaded guilty in November of 2023 to money laundering charges and agreed to pay $4 billion in penalties. Then-Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said after the plea deal that Binance "allowed money to flow to terrorists, cybercriminals, and child abusers through its platform." Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen said at the time that Zhao's company "gave sanctioned customers unfettered access to American capital and financial services."
However, Zhao also had personal ties to the Trump family. As the Wall Street Journal reported, Binance supported the Trump Organization's World Liberty Financial cryptocurrency venture headed by Donald Trump Jr., which has led to the president's personal net wealth spiking significantly since the start of his second term.
The Senate is currently discussing market structure legislation aimed at regulating the cryptocurrency industry. Some Democrats are arguing for provisions in the bill that would prevent the president and his family from profiting from its crypto business, though Republicans are likely to reject them.
“It’s absolutely corrupt what this president is doing, and none of us should be surprised,” Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) told Politico. “What we’re trying to do in market structure is to keep the Binances of the world outside of the United States market.”
Click here to read Politico's full report.
