By Allan Lengel
The Trump family is getting increasingly richer, thanks to a crypto venture that has generated some $4.5 billion since the election, the Wall Street Journal reports:
“A major reason for the success is a partnership with an under-the-radar trading platform quietly administered by Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, whose founder is seeking a pardon from President Trump, according to people familiar with the matter.”
“The online trading platform, PancakeSwap, serves as an incubator of sorts, drumming up interest among traders to use coins issued by the Trump family’s main crypto company, World Liberty Financial.”
The Journal goes on to report that Binance’s majority owner and founder, Changpeng Zhao, spent four months in jail in the U.S. last year after his company agreed to pay a $4.3 billion fine for becoming a global money-laundering hub for criminals, terrorists and sanctions evaders. He pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Seattle to failure to register as a money transmitting business and maintain an effective anti-money laundering program.
Now, Zhao apparently wants to wipe his criminal record clean with a pardon from President Trump. He recently hired Ches McDowell, a lobbyist and friend of Donald Trump Jr. to push for the pardon, the Journal reports, citing “a person familiar with the relationship.”
The White House has been dismissive of suggestions of a conflict of interest.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the “media’s continued attempts to fabricate conflicts of interest are irresponsible” and that “neither the president nor his family have ever engaged, or will ever engage, in conflicts of interest,” The Journal reports.
