They number more than 120 to have benefited from the largesse of SBF while it was rich like Cresus. As times seem very hard for the deposed CEO of FTX, some American politicians decide to reimburse him. Is it compassion or pure political calculation? In any case, the 1.2 million dollars is akin to a small drop in a vast ocean of donations of 46 million dollars.
Democrats return SBF donations from FTX
OpenSecrets.org, the organization with a constant eye on campaign finance and lobbying in the United States, recently unveiled a unpublished document. This relates to the donations made by the ex-CEO of FTX to a hundred American politicians since 2020.
Basically, SBF was able to shell out the sum of $46,542,626 to its Democratic friends. A sum which earned him the second place of the largest Democratic donors after Georges Soros.
The spreadsheet published by OpenSecrets.org also highlighted a sparse list of politicians who returned SBF donations. Others, however, have chosen to donate the sums obtained to charitable organizations.
Basically, $1.2 million was taken out of pocket. This represents only 3% of all of Sam Bankman-Fried’s political contributions. For your information, their totality is evaluated at more than 46 million dollars. Note that this gesture earned him the wrath of Kraken CEO Jesse Powell in a tweet.
Other politicians did not follow suit
Of course, this outpouring of solidarity with the ex-boss of FTX was not unanimously accepted by the 120 or so beneficiaries. Some of them have also vainly concealed their involvement in this story of SBF donations. Among them are:
- Senators John Boozman and Debbie Stabenow, both co-sponsors of the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act;
- Senator Bob Menendez, the bold one who called for acute investor protection after the fall of FTX;
- Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi;
- and Senator Mitt Roomney, who received a donation of $5,800 in 2022.
With the small loss to the Republicans in the midterm elections, coupled with the failure of their darling of the cryptosphere, the Democrats have a lot to do. Refunding FTX is a first step, without however hoping for a full refund. As times are tough, communication shots seem permitted.
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