Senator Elizabeth Warren has responded to threats of a defamation lawsuit from Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ. Warren's legal counsel has dismissed Zhao's claim as "without merit," asserting that her comments regarding his pardon were accurate.
Zhao's lawyer had accused Warren of falsely stating that he pleaded guilty to money laundering. However, Warren's counsel countered in a letter that Zhao admitted under oath to violating the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to implement anti-money laundering controls at Binance. The letter further stated that Warren's comments were based on "publicly available and widely reported facts."
The correspondence also referenced reports indicating that Binance had lobbied former President Trump for nearly a year to secure Zhao's pardon. Additionally, it mentioned the subsequent listing of tokens tied to Zhao's World Liberty Financial project.
Warren's counsel emphasized that even without her senatorial legal protections, Zhao would still need to prove she acted with "actual malice" to succeed in a defamation claim, reinforcing the assertion that his lawsuit is "without merit."
Senator Warren's Stance on CZ's Guilty Plea
The letter from Senator Warren's lawyer was issued in response to an X post made by the senator on October 23, the same day that former President Trump pardoned Zhao. Zhao had previously pleaded guilty in November 2023 to violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) by failing to implement Anti-Money Laundering (AML) controls at Binance.
In her X post, reacting to the pardon, Warren stated, "CZ pleaded guilty to a criminal money laundering charge and was sentenced to prison." She further added, "But then he financed President Trump’s stablecoin and lobbied for a pardon. Today, he got it." She urged Congress to address such issues, stating, "If Congress does not stop this kind of corruption, it owns it."
CZ pleaded guilty to a criminal money laundering charge and was sentenced to prison.
But then he financed President Trump’s stablecoin and lobbied for a pardon.
Today, he got it.
If Congress does not stop this kind of corruption, it owns it. pic.twitter.com/NsWeaJcVeK
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) October 23, 2025
Zhao directly responded to Warren's post, denying that there were any money laundering charges. He characterized Warren's post as an example of a lawmaker attempting to politically weaponize the Department of Justice against the cryptocurrency sector.
Previously, Zhao's lawyer had threatened to sue Warren for allegedly making "defamatory statements that impugn his reputation." The lawyer indicated that Zhao would pursue legal action unless Warren retracted her X post and a Senate resolution that sought to denounce Trump's pardon of the Binance founder.
Binance.US Denies Involvement in Token Listing Decision
Warren's lawyer reiterated that Zhao "admitted, under oath, that he willfully aided and abetted and caused Binance to fail to develop, implement, and maintain an effective AML program, and that this constituted the identified crime." The lawyer further stated that as a result, "Binance processed transactions involving proceedings of illegal activity and caused transactions between U.S. persons and persons in jurisdictions subject to comprehensive U.S. sanctions."
The letter also pointed out that Binance has been "a key supporter" of Trump's World Liberty Financial project, which has reportedly "driven a huge leap in the president’s personal wealth."
Following the pardon, Binance.US announced that it had added trading for WLFI and USD1, both tokens associated with World Liberty Financial. However, Binance.US subsequently stated that the decision to list these tokens was purely a "business decision" and "nothing more." The exchange also noted that over twenty other major platforms had listed the tokens.
