Among the broadcast networks, the CBS Evening News Thursday was the only news program not to mention Donald Trump’s sudden pardon of money laundering cryptocurrency billionaire Changpeng Zhao.
While ABC, CBS and PBS all covered the somewhat surprising legal escape granted to the convicted Canadian-born Binance founder, it was crickets about Walter Cronkite’s former home, controlled by Bari Weiss. Fox doesn’t have an evening news show, but the pardon has been covered by the likes of Rupert Murdoch. The Wall Street Journal and Fox News as well as CNN, the New York TimesAP, Reuters, Axios and many others.
With the pardon unveiled Thursday morning, the absence of any story on Zhao – one of the biggest stories of the day – is all the more noticeable as questions emerge about the ties the Binance boss has had in recent months to the Trump family’s lucrative crypto companies. Add to that the fact that one of the major elements of the Biden administration’s lawsuits against Binance and its ex-CEO is the lack of oversight provided by the crypto exchange to crack down on widespread criminal and terrorist use of the platform.
Specifically, this terrorist use included Hamas using Binance for its finances. Additionally, global gangs embezzled funds from child sex trafficking, prosecutors said.
After pleading guilty in 2023 and resigning from Binance’s top job, Zhao was released from prison after four months in September 2024. Even with this punishment, the executive did not lose any of his controlling shares in the company, and with this week’s pardon, he could return straight to the crypto C-Suite.
At the regular White House press briefing on Thursday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had “exercised his constitutional authority in granting a pardon to Mr. Zhao, who has been pursued by the Biden administration in its war on cryptocurrency.” In case you didn’t understand what Leavitt and Trump were saying, the press secretary then added: “The Biden administration’s war on crypto is over.” »
In this context, that of last night CBS Evening News led with arrests related to the NBA gambling scandal, the administration’s “growing military campaign against drug trafficking in South America,” and interviews with Customs and Border Patrol’s Greg Bovino and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker about ICE’s tough crackdown in Chicago.
Midway through the show, a segment on the much-criticized demolition of the White House East Wing for Trump’s donor-funded new ballroom took center stage. As a follow-up, the show looked at the ongoing federal government shutdown and the aftermath and delays experienced at major U.S. airports. Towards the end of the show, Gayle King previewed an October 24 episode. CBS Mornings segment on Misty Copeland’s final performance at American Ballet Theater.
Yet, top to bottom, nowhere on the show hosted by John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois was there even a mention of Zhao’s pardon, or his business dealings with the Trump family.
Of course, journalists decide every hour of every day which stories are newsworthy and should be reported and which ones are left out. However, whatever the judgment, the absence of a major agreement like Zhao’s pardon stands out, if only for its political and geopolitical aspects.
It should be noted that Zhao’s pardon was covered in an article written on CBS News websitewith an update at 6:33 p.m. ET on October 23. Moreover, CBS Evening NewsThe official X-stream sent a message as late as 7:30 a.m. PT today.
However, representatives of CBS News, who Free press Founder Weiss, a candidate for Paramount chief David Ellison, since the beginning of the month, did not respond to Deadline’s request for comment on the lack of coverage of Zhao’s pardon.
While Ellison has publicly proposed a neutral political stance as a vision for CBS News, the appointment of Weiss as well as former Trump officials within CBS News and his inner circle has raised eyebrows. Those eyebrows have become even higher amid Paramount’s vigorous, multibillion-dollar pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery — a pursuit fueled in part by the implicit promise that the well-connected Paramount will be able to get the entire deal approved by the federal government faster than anyone else.
After some culling and picking (hello Stephen Colbert) by the previous Shari Redstone regime, Ellison’s Skydance received quick regulatory approval for the $8 billion purchase of Paramount once the corporate scalpings were done.
Donald Trump speaks at a law enforcement roundtable at the White House on Thursday.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
On the other hand, and likely the source of Melrose’s ulcers, Trump repeatedly referred to Ellison and his Oracle founding father Larry, the world’s second-richest man, as “my friends and my ‘great supporters.’ Trump also said of the Ellisons that “they will do the right thing” and unleash the “great potential” of CBS News, which hasn’t always been POTUS’ most admired media outlet, if you know what I mean?
No friend of the Trumps, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) pilloried the pardon Thursday.
“First of all, Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to a criminal charge of money laundering,” the former presidential candidate said. “Then he boosted one of Donald Trump’s crypto businesses and pushed for a pardon.” Today, Donald Trump did his part and pardoned him. If Congress does not end this type of corruption through pending market structure legislation, it will be responsible for this lawlessness.”
As for current UAE resident Zhao, who goes by CZ online and off, and Binance… he said it all. “Deeply grateful for today’s pardon and to President Trump for delivering on America’s commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice,” Zhao wrote on X.
“We thank President Trump for his leadership and commitment to making the United States the crypto capital of the world,” a Binance spokesperson said after the pardon was made public. “CZ’s vision has not only made Binance the largest crypto exchange in the world, but also shaped the broader crypto movement. Binance remains focused on creating a secure, transparent, user-focused platform that lowers fees and increases access to the financial system for everyone.”
