Teresa Goody Guillén, Changpeng Zhao’s personal attorney, has denied pay-to-play allegations surrounding the Binance founder’s presidential pardon. In a recent podcast interview with Anthony Pompliano, Guillén addressed critiques linking the pardon to Binance’s dealings with World Liberty Financial and other Trump-connected entities.
Guillén clarified that Zhao, also known as CZ, was charged with Binance’s failure to implement anti-money laundering compliance programs, not with money laundering itself. “This is a regulatory infraction. There’s no money laundering involved,” she emphasized. The attorney further argued that CZ never should have been prosecuted.
### Allegations Based on Unverified Sources
Guillén described the corruption allegations as “a pile-up of a lot of false statements, misstatements, sometimes assumptions.” She challenged reporters to verify their sources, noting that media outlets often cite other media reports without solid evidence.
“You’ll see a media report, citing a media report, citing a media report, and there’s no basis for it other than sources that are close to somebody, which is kind of code for not a strong source,” Guillén explained.
The attorney also disputed claims that World Liberty Financial is “Trump’s company,” stating she hasn’t seen evidence supporting this characterization. Addressing allegations about USD-1, the stablecoin World Liberty Financial issued on the Binance chain, she said,
“Just because I list something on Craigslist, it doesn’t mean that I therefore have some special relationship with the former CEO of Craigslist.” Guillén pointed out that USD-1 exists on multiple chains and is held by other exchanges.
### Other Crypto Executives Also Received Pardons
Guillén highlighted that Arthur Hayes, former BitMEX CEO, also received a pardon alongside the BitMEX company itself. Ross Ulbricht, founder of Silk Road, was pardoned as well.
“We’ve been pardoning people for, and companies, juridical people also from the beginning of our country all the way back to England,” she said. Guillén noted that pardons historically cover both criminal and civil offenses for individuals and entities alike.
When asked about alleged secret Bitcoin payments to former President Trump, Guillén firmly stated, “I know CZ. I just know that that would never happen. That’s just not who he is.”
### Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Inaccurate Claims
Senator Elizabeth Warren posted on social media that CZ had been convicted of crimes he was not found guilty of and alleged pay-to-play tactics to obtain his pardon.
“You can’t just go and say things about people and allege that they violated various crimes or committed various crimes that they haven’t committed,” Guillén responded.
### CZ’s Role and Binance Compliance
It has been confirmed that CZ will not return to Binance. The exchange still faces restrictions from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
Despite being banned from serving U.S. customers, Binance operates under the supervision of a Treasury Department monitor, ensuring compliance with U.S. laws.
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This clarification from Teresa Goody Guillén sheds light on the controversy surrounding Changpeng Zhao’s pardon and Binance’s ongoing regulatory challenges.
https://crypto.news/binance-cz-attorney-denies-pay-to-play-speculation/