According to Business Insider, Representative Robert Garcia has launched a formal investigation into President Trump’s pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao. The California Democrat sent a letter to the White House demanding answers about the “shocking and unjustified” pardon of the billionaire crypto mogul. Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 to serious money-laundering violations and admitted to failing to implement proper anti-money-laundering controls at his exchange. The investigation centers on potential financial ties between Binance and the Trump family business, including Binance’s promotion of a Trump-backed stablecoin. Garcia has requested all relevant documents and communications be provided by November 20, 2025. Trump later claimed he didn’t even know who Zhao was, despite granting the pardon.
The Zhao pardon backstory
Here’s the thing about this pardon that’s raising so many eyebrows. Changpeng Zhao wasn’t some minor offender – he ran the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and admitted to willfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act. Basically, his platform became a playground for illicit transactions because he didn’t bother with proper money-laundering controls. And now he walks free while his exchange continues operating? That’s quite the outcome for someone who admitted to such serious financial crimes.
The Trump family connections
Now we get to the really interesting part. According to the Wall Street Journal reporting that Garcia cites, Binance was actively promoting USD1, which is a stablecoin backed by World Liberty Financial – a company with Trump family connections. Even more damning? Binance apparently asked an investor from the United Arab Emirates to use that same Trump-backed stablecoin to buy a minority stake in the exchange. So you’ve got business negotiations happening while Zhao is reportedly lobbying for a pardon. The appearance here is about as subtle as a sledgehammer.
What Garcia wants
Garcia isn’t just making noise – he’s using his position as Ranking Member of the House Oversight Committee to demand actual documents. He wants all communications involving Zhao, Binance representatives, and the Trump administration. The deadline is November 20, 2025, which gives the White House plenty of time to either comply or come up with excuses. The core question here is whether the pardon power was used impartially or influenced by personal financial interests. And given Trump’s later claim that he didn’t know Zhao? That just makes the whole situation smell worse.
The bigger picture
Look, presidential pardons have always been controversial, but this one hits different. We’re talking about the founder of the largest crypto exchange on Earth getting clemency while his company was doing business with the president’s family. It creates exactly the kind of “quid-pro-quo” appearance that Garcia describes in his letter. The American public deserves to know whether this was about justice or just business connections. And honestly, given how much scrutiny crypto regulation is under right now, this pardon timing couldn’t be worse for building trust in the system.
