Democratic lawmakers and political action committees (PACs) are largely silent on whether they have returned funds they received from Sam Bankman-Fried, a former cryptocurrency tycoon that a jury convicted of fraud on Thursday.
A jury found Bankman-Fried guilty on seven fraud and conspiracy-related charges partly because of his use of customer funds to finance campaign contributions. While many Democrats and some of the PACs have reportedly done away with the funds they received, a substantial number of lawmakers and committees remain silent about their handling of the money. (RELATED: Parents Of Sam Bankman-Fried Accused Of Using Son’s Company To Enrich Themselves, Dem Political Org)
NEW: FTX fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried is facing 100+ years in federal prison after he was found guilty of all charges brought forward by the DOJ.
However, what remains unclear is whether action will be taken by the DOJ to investigate the over $70 million dollars SBF donated to… pic.twitter.com/ErIM0fgpH3
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 3, 2023
The Department of Justice indicted Bankman-Fried on seven fraud and conspiracy-related charges in August, alleging he “misappropriated and embezzled FTX customer deposits, and used billions of dollars in stolen funds for a variety of purposes, including … to help fund over a hundred million dollars in campaign contributions to Democrats and Republicans to seek to influence cryptocurrency regulation.”
Bankman-Fried will potentially spend the rest of his life in prison, but the judge will make the final decision on sentencing in March, according to The New York Times. He donated nearly $39 million to back Democrat-aligned causes and was the second-largest individual contributor to them during the 2022 midterm election cycle.
The disgraced cryptocurrency tycoon gave Democratic Rep. Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts $5,800 in March 2022, according to Federal Election Commission data.
“We have no intention of giving money to FTX, no,” Auchincloss told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “We’d like an avenue to get funds to those who were scammed by FTX and are waiting on further official guidance on that as the criminal case plays out. In the meantime, the funds have been set aside.”
FTX and its debtors are endeavoring to retrieve the money Bankman-Fried donated, according to a February press release.
Bankman-Fried allegedly tasked FTX Director of Engineering Nishad Singh with making donations to Democrats in his name for “optics,” the former executive testified.
Democratic Rep. Raul Ruiz of California received $2,900 in contributions from Singh in October 2022 and recently returned it without giving it to FTX.
“The campaign donated that contribution to the United States Marshals Service on October 6, 2023,” Ruiz’s campaign manager told the DCNF. Democratic Rep. Nanette Barragán of California also returned the $2,900 contribution she received in October 2022 to the U.S. Marshals Service in July, her chief of staff told the DCNF.
Other politicians have donated the money to local charities including Planned Parenthood and food banks, according to The Associated Press.
Democratic Rep. Lori Trahan of Massachusetts and Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania both received $2,900 from Singh in October 2022, according to Federal Election Commission data. Neither of them responded to requests for comment about whether they returned the money, though data journalist Unusual Whales says Trahan donated the funds.
Democratic Georgia Rep. Sanford Bishop received $2,900 from Bankman-Fried in July 2022 and returned it to the U.S. Marshals Service in March, he informed the DCNF after publication.
President Joe Biden received $2,800 from Bankman-Fried in October 2020 and the White House has avoided disclosing what the president has done with the money. The megadonor also gave $5 million to Future Forward USA, a PAC that backed President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign. The PAC does not appear to have returned the money.
Furthermore, Bankman-Fried contributed $28,000,000 to Protect Our Future PAC in 2022 and gave $6,000,000 to House Majority PAC in April 2022, both of which appear not to have returned the funds. Bankman-Fried was Protect Our Future PAC’s main funder and it overwhelmingly contributed to Democrats, according to OpenSecrets.
House Majority PAC “will send funds in question wherever authorities instruct us,” spokesman CJ Warnke told CNBC in December.
The White House, Fetterman, Trahan, Future Forward USA and House Majority PAC did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
Protect Our Future PAC could not be reached for comment.
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