Scott Jennings on Monday was trounced on CNN for defending President Donald Trump over his pardon of convicted cryptocurrency billionaire Changpeng Zhao, who pleaded guilty in 2024 to money laundering, and arguing that Trump “probably” didn’t know him.
Trump claimed Sunday on “60 Minutes” that he personally didn’t know Zhao, whose Binance company was ordered to pay more than $4 billion to the U.S. government and had invested $2 billion in the World Liberty Financial crypto firm, in which Trump’s family has a stake.
“Trump says he doesn’t know anything about it,” Abby Phillip, host of “NewsNight,” told Jennings. “This wasn’t like a blanket pardon that was sent out to a bunch of people. It was one man on one day, lovely day in October, OK? One man, right?”
She continued about Trump’s “60 Minutes” chat with host Norah O’Donnell, “So you’re telling me that Trump has no idea that he pardoned, perhaps, one of the most prominent people to ever be convicted in crypto, a business that his family is deeply embedded in.”
When asked if Jennings, who said earlier in the discussion that Trump “isn’t acquainted with the finer points of the crypto industry” and that presidents “most often don’t know the people that they’re pardoning,” wants people to believe this, he stood unwaveringly firm.
“I don’t want you to believe anything, and I’m certainly not acquainted with all the details of it; I’m just telling you that I believe that the president probably doesn’t personally know this person,” he told Phillip, who interrupted to note: “I didn’t ask if he personally knew him.”
Then Jennings said about Trump’s presidential predecessor, “I also believe that the president was personally lobbied about this, and I believe that a group of advisers probably told him he was over-prosecuted by Biden. I think all those things are true.”
When asked if he thinks Trump knows that his family “is in business” with Zhao’s company, and whether he feels this is OK, Jennings said Trump “probably knows his family is in the crypto business” and pardoned Zhao because he “got a recommendation” to do so.
Phillip didn’t let up, asking, “Do you think that it’s OK that he pardoned somebody that his family is, right at this very moment, in business with, and who shortly after that pardon sent out a message promoting the Trump family crypto business? You’re OK with that?”
Progressive activist David Hogg answered, “No, it’s totally above board, obviously.”
Hogg jokingly added that “there’s nothing to see here,” as Zhao did indeed post on social media after his pardon that he is “deeply grateful” to Trump and that America should be “the Capital of Crypto,” before fellow panelist Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) chimed in.
“First of all, A for effort,” said Moskowitz.
“I mean, look, this was great,” he added. “Nora O’Donnell was asking a tough question, right? She was like, ‘Hey, so there’s this guy, he goes by C.Z., he’s a national security risk,’ and he was like, moving money for Hamas, and you gave him a pardon.’”
Moskowitz added, “And Trump was pretending like he was with his best friend. He is like, ‘Hey, listen to this, I don’t even know the guy. I know nothing about it.’ I mean, somewhere obviously James Comer, my dear friend who spent millions of dollars on this autopen thing, is crying.”
Comer is a Kentucky Republican who, as chair of the House Oversight Committee, oversaw an alleged bribery scheme involving former President Joe Biden and tried to discredit Trump’s predecessor for using a digital autopen signature despite having used one himself.
“When the speaker was asked about this question, he looked like his IBS started to kick in front of the TV cameras,” Moskowitz said Monday. “No, this undermines their entire message about Joe Biden, the autopen and not knowing pardons.”
He continued, “And you know the one thing we don’t have about Joe Biden? We don’t have him on camera being asked a question, ‘Do you know about this pardon?’ And Joe Biden going, ‘No, know nothing about it.’ We got Trump.”
When the Democratic lawmaker added that Trump’s alleged corruption is “right there for the American people to see,” Jennings countered, “it’s true” — but only in reference to Biden not being on camera a lot amid his alleged cognitive decline during “the last three months.”
