U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren's lawyer has countered allegations of defamation against her made by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao after U.S. President Donald Trump pardoned him.
The New York Post reported on Tuesday that Zhao's lawyer, Teresa Goody Guillén, threatened to sue Warren for "defamatory statements that damage his reputation" unless she deleted a post on X from October 23, which accused Trump of "corruption" in pardoning Zhao that day.
According to information obtained by Punchbowl News, Warren's lawyer, Ben Stafford, stated in a letter to Goody Guillén on Sunday that "any threatening defamation claim would be baseless," as Zhao "pleaded guilty to violating anti-money laundering laws."
Warren stated in her X post that Zhao "pleaded guilty to criminal money laundering charges and was sentenced to prison," to which Zhao rebutted online days later, saying "there were no money laundering [charges]."
Zhao pleaded guilty in November 2023, admitting to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program at Binance, violating the Bank Secrecy Act, and was sentenced to four months in prison by a federal court in Seattle in April 2024.
Warren's X post also added that Zhao "funded President Trump's stablecoin and lobbied for a pardon," which intensified criticism of Trump's pardon, given the connections between Binance and his family's crypto venture, World Liberty Financial.
The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg reported that Binance helped create World Liberty's stablecoin, USD1. This stablecoin was also used in a $2 billion deal in March for the UAE's state-owned investment company MGX to acquire a stake in Binance.
Politico reported on October 25 that Zhao's pardon came after months of expensive efforts by Binance and its legal team to win the support of key figures in Trump's circle.
Warren's lawyer, Stafford, argued in the letter that Warren's X post "is true in every respect and therefore cannot constitute defamation," and "accurately represents publicly available and widely reported facts."
"A public figure like Mr. Zhao cannot prevail in a defamation claim without evidence that the defendant published false statements of fact with actual malice," he added.
According to a letter seen by the New York Post, Zhao's lawyer, Goody Guillén, stated that he "will not remain silent while a U.S. senator appears to abuse her power by repeatedly publishing defamatory statements that damage his reputation."
The letter demands that Warren retract her statements in the X post and seek to condemn Trump's pardon of Zhao in her Senate resolution, or else Zhao may "seek all available legal remedies to address these false statements."
Stafford argued that Warren's X post "merely quoted the fact of Mr. Zhao's guilty plea to violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws."
"Her X post did not state—nor should it be understood to state—that he pleaded guilty to any other money laundering charges," the letter added.
Related: Aster price surged over 30% after CZ disclosed purchase.
Original: “Senator Elizabeth Warren rebuffs CZ defamation threat, calling his claims ‘without merit’”
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
