Elizabeth Warren rebuffs defamation allegations from Changpeng Zhao through lawyer: report

U.S. Senator and top Senate Banking Committee Democrat Elizabeth Warren's lawyer has rebuffed allegations that she defamed Binance founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao in statements made shortly after President Trump pardoned the crypto founder, arguing the statement was "true in all respects" in a letter obtained by D.C. outlet Punchbowl News. 

In the letter, Ben Stafford, a lawyer for Warren, responds to the threat of a defamation lawsuit made last week by CZ's lawyer Teresa Goody Guillén over comments Warren made after CZ's pardon, namely her assertion in an X post that he "pleaded guilty to a criminal money laundering charge." 

"Senator Warren accurately represented publicly available and widely reported facts," Stafford's letter states, adding later, "Mr. Zhao pled guilty to a criminal charge, presented through an information by the Department of Justice, and resulting in a prison sentence."

CZ had contested Warren's language, writing, "There were NO money laundering changes [sic]" in an X post quoting Warren's. Goody Guillén previously told the New York Post that the ex-Binance CEO plans to file a defamation lawsuit immediately against the Senator, if she declined to retract her statement. 

"Mr. Zhao will not remain silent while a United States Senator seemingly misuses the office to repeatedly publish defamatory statements that impugn his reputation and cause him further injury," Goody Guillén said in the letter. 

Goody Guillén, in her letter, had asserted that CZ "pleaded guilty to a single regulatory count—failure to implement an effective anti-money laundering program under the Bank Secrecy Act," contesting the notion that this amounted to a "criminal money laundering charge," per Warren's language. However, Stafford argues in his letter that CZ "did plead guilty to a criminal violation of the Bank Secrecy Act – described by its enforcing agency as 'our nation’s first and most comprehensive anti-money laundering statute'" and noted that "'regulatory penalties' do not exist." 

"Even presuming that absolute immunity would not bar such a defamation claim, Mr. Zhao would need to establish the necessary elements. A public figure such as Mr. Zhao cannot prevail on a defamation claim without presenting evidence that the defendant published a false statement of fact with actual malice," Stafford's letter states. "Here, as explained below, Senator Warren’s statement is completely accurate. In any event, the standard is speech-protective."

"Her X Post does not state—and should not be construed to state—that he pled guilty to any other money laundering charge," Stafford's letter states. 

The Block could not immediately reach CZ or Goody Guillén for comment.