60 Minutes Investigation: Former DOJ Officials Call Trump's Binance Pardon 'Unprecedented Corruption'

On November 16, 2025, CBS News’ 60 Minutes aired a major investigative report examining President Trump’s October 23, 2025 pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, revealing extensive financial ties between Zhao’s cryptocurrency empire and the Trump family’s crypto venture. The investigation, reported by Scott Pelley and Maria Gavrilovic, featured damning assessments from former Justice Department officials who characterized the pardon as “unprecedented corruption.”

Former U.S. Pardon Attorney Elizabeth Oyer provided devastating testimony: “The influence that money played in securing this pardon is unprecedented. The self-dealing aspect of the pardon in terms of the benefit that it conferred on President Trump, and his family, and people in his inner circle is also unprecedented. This is absolutely not justice. This is corruption.” Oyer further warned that “This president appears to be selling off pieces of our democracy.”

The investigation revealed that in 2023, Zhao and Binance pleaded guilty to failing to prevent money laundering on the platform. According to Oyer, Zhao “was essentially allowing his company to be used as a platform to finance criminal activity, to send money to terrorist organizations including Al-Qaeda, Hamas, and ISIS.” Binance paid a $4 billion fine, and Zhao served four months in prison before his release in September 2024.

The pardon came months after a $2 billion Emirati fund investment in Binance, conducted entirely in World Liberty crypto—the Trump family’s cryptocurrency venture launched with minimal staff before the 2025 election. Binance provided software to help World Liberty launch, and the $2 billion deposit represents most of World Liberty’s total deposits. According to the 60 Minutes investigation, this deposit could generate approximately $80 million annually in interest for Trump entities. NYU crypto expert Austin Campbell noted the transaction “vaulted them from small time to the big leagues,” while a source told CBS that Zhao “now controls whether World Liberty dies or lives.”

Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig told 60 Minutes that “compromised” accurately describes the situation, warning that foreign governments now have financial leverage options over presidential decision-making. Constitutional scholar Michael Gerhardt noted that the trust structure doesn’t shield Trump from self-dealing charges, stating “All those things benefit Trump and Trump family. They do not benefit the people of the United States.”

When asked about the pardon during the interview, Trump claimed: “Okay, are you ready? I don’t know who he is”—a statement contradicted by the documented financial entanglement between Zhao’s company and the Trump family business.

Senator Elizabeth Warren had previously condemned the pardon as “corruption,” stating: “First, Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to a criminal money laundering charge. Then he boosted one of Donald Trump’s crypto ventures and lobbied for a pardon. Today, Donald Trump did his part and pardoned him.” The 60 Minutes investigation provided documentary evidence supporting these corruption allegations with expert testimony from former Justice Department officials and constitutional scholars.

The investigation represents major investigative journalism documenting the monetization of presidential pardon power and conflicts of interest between Trump’s official duties and his family’s business interests. Oyer’s characterization of the pardon as using federal resources to “sell off pieces of our democracy” highlighted the constitutional crisis created by pardons issued in exchange for financial enrichment of the president’s family.