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Trump pardons convicted Binance founder

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Re: Trump pardons convicted Binance founder

#23

Post by nickff »

mullingitover wrote: post #18
nickff wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but Zhao was convicted of crimes which were a direct result of his operating a crypto exchange, and not any other criminal activity. It may be possible to operate a legally-compliant crypto exchange, but I am not sure that any current exchange is fully compliant with US law. If we agree on these facts, and think that the 'war on drugs' is what has resulted in 'drug possession' and 'dru…

> and not any other criminal activity He made a lot of money from the other criminal activity. That's what money laundering is: just because you're not directly trafficking children, for example, doesn't mean you have clean hands when you make significant profits from the people who are.

What you're describing is (in my view) the best casus belli for both the 'war on drugs' and a 'war on crypto', but a moral case does not make a criminal case (on its own).

Re: Trump pardons convicted Binance founder

#24

Post by ksherlock »

bdavisx wrote: post #12

Serious question - it seems that many of this Administrations activities are illegal in some way or the other. I know that government officials are shielded from a lot of actions so they can not be prosecuted. What actions that have been taken could actually be prosecuted? For example, I would have to assume that the ballroom demolition and build-out is illegal, there were $0 appropriated from Congress for this, and…

"Well, when the president does it ... that means that it is not illegal" -- Richard Nixon (1977)

"Well, when the president does it ... that means that it is not illegal" -- SCOTUS (2024)

That leaves impeachment as the only legal remedy, which you've correctly identified as not a possibility with the current congress.

Re: Trump pardons convicted Binance founder

#25

Post by mullingitover »

nickff wrote: post #23
mullingitover wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and not any other criminal activity He made a lot of money from the other criminal activity. That's what money laundering is: just because you're not directly trafficking children, for example, doesn't mean you have clean hands when you make significant profits from the people who are.

What you're describing is (in my view) the best casus belli for both the 'war on drugs' and a 'war on crypto', but a moral case does not make a criminal case (on its own).

I don't even necessarily think a 'war on crypto' is needed. The problem is that crypto seems to function as a get out of jail free card for very straightforward financial crimes: you just do the financial crime, but apply a thin veneer of 'but with crypto' and the legal system is utterly bamboozled.

Crypto's problem is that when the law is updated to deal with these stunts, it's suddenly just a crappy version of the existing financial system.

Re: Trump pardons convicted Binance founder

#26

Post by DengistKhan »

billy99k wrote: post #21

[flagged]

Unfortunately, this narrative's utility is pretty low and it's intended implications are severely weakened by the current administration's obsession with revenge, blaming everything on someone else, and persecuting political opponents. If such openly hostile and norms-breaking rhetoric did not exist before the pardons, then the pardons would appear suspicious.

Re: Trump pardons convicted Binance founder

#27

Post by JumpCrisscross »

bdavisx wrote: post #12

Serious question - it seems that many of this Administrations activities are illegal in some way or the other. I know that government officials are shielded from a lot of actions so they can not be prosecuted. What actions that have been taken could actually be prosecuted? For example, I would have to assume that the ballroom demolition and build-out is illegal, there were $0 appropriated from Congress for this, and…

> it seems that many of this Administrations activities are illegal

Many are. This one is not. The President has sweeping pardon powers.

The solution is to strike the final phrase in Article 2, Section 2, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution: “and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.” [1].

There isn’t a place for one-man pardons in a republic. If the courts overreach, address it through legislation. (Even the imperium-obsessed Romans didn’t give their dictators, much less consuls, automatic pardon power. Caesar had to get special legislation to overrule the law.)

With Presidents of both parties having so recently abused pardons, we may be in a place where a wave could pass a Constitutional amendment at the federal level, allowing it to be punted to the states.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_Two_of_the_United_Stat...

Re: Trump pardons convicted Binance founder

#28

Post by perihelions »

Key line:

> "Since Trump’s election, Binance has also been a key supporter of his family’s World Liberty Financial crypto venture, a business that has driven a huge leap in the president’s personal wealth."

"Huge leap" meaning $5 billion,

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-wlfi-world-liberty-financ... ("New crypto token boosts Trump family's wealth by $5 billion")

Re: Trump pardons convicted Binance founder

#29

Post by nickff »

mullingitover wrote: post #25
nickff wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you're describing is (in my view) the best casus belli for both the 'war on drugs' and a 'war on crypto', but a moral case does not make a criminal case (on its own).

I don't even necessarily think a 'war on crypto' is needed. The problem is that crypto seems to function as a get out of jail free card for very straightforward financial crimes: you just do the financial crime, but apply a thin veneer of 'but with crypto' and the legal system is utterly bamboozled. Crypto's problem is that when the law is updated to deal with these stunts, it's suddenly just a crappy version of the…

I completely agree that crypto is being used as an end-run (if you'll pardon the expression) around the existing financial oligopoly, whose regulatory burden is paid for by the monopoly rents extracted by the government-endorsed players. The problem is that criminal laws aren't being maximally applied against banks, so instances like this do give the appearance of 'unfairness'.
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