FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: burke@therevolvingdoorproject.org
In response to President Trump’s pardon of convicted money launderer Changpeng Zhao, the Revolving Door Project Executive Director, Jeff Hauser released the following statement:
“Donald Trump’s brazen abuse of presidential clemency powers is an established theme of his presidency, so his pardon of another crypto criminal connected to the Trump family’s empire of corruption comes as no surprise. Still, that corruption is becoming ubiquitous makes it no less corrosive to the continued rule of law in this country–indeed, the torrents of corruption make America even weaker. While the Trump administration postures at confronting international criminal networks by illegally bombing fishermen off the coast of South America, they’re enabling real criminals who have received due process to get off scot-free, so long as they’re willing to cut the Trump family in on the action.”
“Given the judiciary’s spinelessness in the face of Trump’s grifts, there is no deterrent to this ongoing model of impunity, in which wealthy patrons obtain get out of jail free cards in return for their financial support of Trump and the Republican Party. But there is no reason for lawmakers to adopt a similar spineless posture—they must immediately start investigating and communicating the real and material stakes of the administration’s unabashed embrace and perpetration of mind-boggling corruption. ”
Hauser previously wrote about the Trump family’s use of cryptocurrency to enrich themselves in January, and appeared on MSNBC to discuss the issue.