OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
The Justice Department has decided to drop all charges related to alleged campaign finance violations against disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried after he donated tens of millions of dollars to now-President Joe Biden’s campaign as well as many other Democrats.
Bankman-Fried, who gave Biden’s 2020 campaign $5.2 million, also donated to some Republicans, but the vast majority of some $100 million of customer funds he donated during the 2020 election cycle went to Democrats.
The FTX founder’s fraud charges will remain intact, “but the charges he faced for political campaign finance violations have been dropped by federal prosecutors,” The Post Millennial reported on Saturday.
“He leveraged this influence, in turn, to lobby Congress and regulatory agencies to support legislation and regulation he believed would make it easier for FTX to continue to accept customer deposits and grow,” the August indictment by the Justice Department read.
A letter submitted to U.S. District Judge Lewis A Kaplan in the case said that the federal government “does not plan to proceed with a second trial” and added that “much of the evidence that would be offered in a second trial was already offered in the first trial and can be considered by the Court at the defendant’s March 2024 sentencing.”
Citing the “strong public interest in a prompt resolution of this matter,” the prosecution states that “the Government intends to proceed to sentencing on the counts for which the defendant was convicted at trial.”
Bankman-Fried was charged, the letter states, with “two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.”
The decision by prosecutors not to hold a second trial against Bankman-Fried for the alleged campaign finance violations quickly drew backlash from several who have been following the case.
“So we won’t know which politicians he bribed or who’s campaigns he influenced? That collective sigh of relief you are hearing is from the DEEP STATE,” Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., wrote in a Friday night post to X.
So we won’t know which politicians he bribed or who’s campaigns he influenced? That collective sigh of relief you are hearing is from the DEEP STATE. https://t.co/8eEkYI869b
— Tim Burchett (@timburchett) December 30, 2023
Another user, however, posted what was claimed to be a list of recipients via the Federal Election Commission. Among them are a few very moderate Republicans like Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, and Richard Burr of North Carolina. It’s not clear if the list is accurate.
I think this is the list of people who received funds pic.twitter.com/Nd9656q0vx
— Andrea ✝️👑🇺🇸 (@AndreaH168) December 30, 2023
Conservative commentator John Cardillo also ripped the announcement from federal prosecutors, accusing the Department of Justice of protecting Democrats from being named as recipients of Bankman-Fried donations.
“Sam Bankman-Fried will not face second trial,” Cardillo wrote in an X post. “DOJ is protecting his Dem donation recipients.”
CryptoLaw founder John Deaton, who has frequently commented on the case, also blasted the DOJ and the decision by prosecutors as a “disgrace.”
“The DOJ has shown again, that it is NOT an independent agency,” Deaton said on X. “Who is the Attorney General protecting?”
A disgrace. The DOJ has shown again, that it is NOT an independent agency. Who is the Attorney General protecting? https://t.co/f7G8hdfjvR
— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) December 30, 2023
Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk also blasted the prosecutors’ decision to not hold a second trial for Bankman-Fried, insisting that the case “became too high-profile for the DOJ to completely ignore.”
“The SBF case became too high-profile for the DOJ to completely ignore, but they made sure laundering $100 million of customers’ money to Schumer, Biden, and McConnell and other dark money groups would never blow back on the ‘elite.’ Trump faces 700 years in federal prison, but America’s uniparty cabal just gave themselves a get out of jail free card. You’re witnessing DC corruption in realtime,” Kirk wrote in an X post.
The SBF case became too high-profile for the DOJ to completely ignore, but they made sure laundering $100 million of customers’ money to Schumer, Biden, and McConnell and other dark money groups would never blow back on the “elite.” Trump faces 700 years in federal prison, but… https://t.co/wC2l7ycl7H
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) December 30, 2023
