Due to serious accusations against him, Sam Bankman-Fried and the funds received from him have become an embarrassment for American political actors. Several political platforms belonging to the American Democratic Party are committed to returning the “dirty money” received from the former CEO of FTX, who is now back home. The New York prosecutor is calling on other political actors to do the same.
Democrats ready to return at least $2 million received from SBF
At the height of his fame, Sam Bankman-Fried was a financial sponsor for many political actors in the United States. The former FTX CEO funded current U.S. President Joe Biden and several other American politicians. Recently, some of the politicians who received his donations are considering giving them back.
According to a Washington Post article from last week, three Democratic Party groups are pledging to return up to $2 million received from SBF:
- The Democratic National Committee (DNC);
- Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee;
- Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
In light of the allegations regarding potential campaign finance violations by Sam Bankman-Fried, we are setting aside funds to return the $815,000 in contributions since 2020. We will return as soon as we receive appropriate instructions in the legal process.
Daniel Wessel, a DNC spokesperson
The decision by three Democratic groups to return SBF’s donations is a response to a request by the New York attorney general. Damian Williams recently claimed that the former FTX CEO violated campaign finance law. The U.S. magistrate further called on all political recipients of his donations to return the funds so that they could be returned to the FTX platform’s customers.
All of this dirty money was used in service of Bankman-Fried’s desire to buy bipartisan influence and impact the direction of public policy in Washington. To any person, entity or political campaign that received money from stolen clients, we ask that you work with us to return that money to the innocent victims.
It should be noted that not all politicians who have benefited from the contributions of the former FTX CEO have yet to comment on the matter.
Sam Bankman-Fried’s strong political influence
Over the past two years, Sam Bankman-Fried has funded supposedly cryptocurrency-friendly politicians. According to federal records, the former FTX CEO has given up to $40 million to various political actors.
Among Democrats, Sam Bankman-Fried was known as the second largest contributor to the presidential campaign for the 2020 elections. In addition to $36 million in support of various Democratic challengers in the 2022 midterm elections, the former FTX CEO had contributed as much as $5.2 million in support of Joe Biden.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre, returned to the topic at a press conference last week. In response to the very first question of the conference, Karine Jean-Pierre notably refused to say clearly whether or not President Joe Biden would return Sam Bankman-Fried’s donations.
On the Republican side, Sam Bankman-Fried has also been a financial supporter. In the 2022 midterm elections, he contributed $240,000 to some Republican candidates. It was mostly his right-hand man who interacted with Republicans according to several sources. Ryan Salame funded Republicans in the 2022 midterm elections to the tune of $12 million.
Like the three groups we mentioned, many politicians should return SBF donations to make themselves look good. Unfortunately, this won’t cover all the damage done to FTX customers who still don’t have access to their funds… In the meantime, we’ll say it again: nothing beats your own wallet.
I dream of a world where every citizen has total control over themselves, including their finances. I believe that Bitcoin is one of the tools that will achieve this revolution. Since 2019, I am learning about this cryptocurrency and spreading the word around.
