Trump Claims He ‘Doesn’t Know’ Crypto King He Pardoned — Despite Previously Arguing Biden Pardons Should Be Void Because He Didn’t Know About Them
Donald Trump told 60 Minutes Sunday that he had no idea who cryptocurrency Binance founder “CZ” was, even though the president recently pardoned the billionaire.
In her voiceover, O’Donnell said that so far this year, “The president has pardoned or shortened the sentences of more than 1,600 people. The latest pardon was for a cryptocurrency tycoon who is known as ‘CZ.’ The company CZ founded, Binance, helped boost the profile of the Trump family’s crypto firm, World Liberty Financial.”
“He pled guilty in 2023 to violating anti-money laundering laws,” O’Donnell said of CZ, adding, “The government at the time said that CZ had caused ‘Significant harm to U.S. National security,’ essentially by allowing terrorist groups like Hamas to move millions of dollars around. Why did you pardon him?”
“Okay, are you ready?” Trump said. “I don’t know who he is. I know he got a four-month sentence or something like that. And I heard it was a Biden witch hunt.”
O’Donnell added in her voiceover that Binance “helped facilitate a $2 billion purchase” of Trump’s own crypto venture.
“How do you address the appearance of pay for play?” O’Donnell asked.
Trump continued to deny any knowledge of CZ or Binance.
“Well, here’s the thing, I know nothing about it because I’m too busy doing the other —”
O’Donnell interrupted, “But he got a pardon —
“I can only tell you that —
“He got a pardon —” O’Donnell repeated.
Also, in an excerpt that did not air on CBS but was later posted online, Trump threatened to walk out of the interview when Norah O’Donnell asked about his relationship with Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ. Trump then finally agreed to answer O’Donnell’s questions, saying, “I don’t mind. Did I let you do it? I coulda walked away. I didn’t have to answer to this question. I’m proud to answer the question.”
Trump’s plea of ignorance on CZ was called out by observers who noted the president’s previous statements on the subject. Trump has repeatedly argued that President Joe Biden’s pardons should be void because he didn’t know about them and used autopen to sign them.
“The ‘Pardons’ that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, and many others, are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on March 17. “In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!”
The apparent contradiction was called out by critics on social media:
Watch the clip above via CBS News’s 60 Minutes.
