PANews reported on October 26th that Ches McDowell, a North Carolina lobbyist and hunting partner of Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of President Donald Trump, is becoming one of Washington's most lucrative lobbyists, according to Politico. His firm, Checkmate Government Relations, has generated $7.1 million in revenue in the past three months alone, despite only opening a Washington office earlier this year. According to a disclosure report, Binance hired McDowell in late September to lobby the White House and Treasury Department on financial policy issues and "administrative relief." Binance paid Checkmate $450,000 for its work over the past month.

However, CZ's pursuit of a pardon has been ongoing for much longer than a month. As early as February of this year, three weeks after Trump was sworn in as US President, Binance and CZ each hired crypto lawyer Teresa Goody Guillén. Trump had considered appointing her as SEC Chair. Her law firm's report shows that it has received a total of $290,000 in fees from Binance and CZ so far this year.