Lawmakers are donating Bankman-Fried’s campaign contributions — who and where
Zachary Halaschak
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After FTX’s collapse, some lawmakers quickly donated campaign contributions from the company’s disgraced founder Sam Bankman-Fried to a wide array of charities.
The sheer magnitude of Bankman-Fried’s contributions is massive. Before his arrest, Bankman-Fried, 30, was touted by some as the second coming of legendary investor Warren Buffett and did not shy away from spending his fortune on politics. All told, Bankman-Fried spent nearly $40 million on campaigns this election cycle.
FTX’S DISGRACED FOUNDER SAM BANKMAN-FRIED USED OTHER PEOPLE’S NAMES TO MAKE POLITICAL DONATIONS
A big chunk of the 59 Democratic and Republican candidates who received contributions from Bankman-Fried opted to offload the donations to charity.
Of the 59 candidates, the campaigns of just under half told NBC News that they have donated, or intend to donate, the contributions to charity. Three campaigns couldn’t be reached and three others said they planned to return the contributions or hold on to them and wait for guidance from federal investigators about next steps.
Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) said that she would give away the campaign contribution to Planned Parenthood North Central States, while Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) spokesman Sam Runyan said the senator is giving away his to a West Virginia food bank “and hopes this donation can provide some relief to those who need it most.”
The chief of staff for Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) told the Washington Examiner that he “has donated the contributions in question to nonprofits that serve Pennsylvania’s rural communities and individuals in need.”
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), the expected House minority leader, gave his Bankman-Fried contribution to the American Diabetes Association. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) donated her contribution to Storyknife Writers Retreat in Homer, Alaska.
Rep. Josh Harder (D-CA) is donating his Bankman-Fried funds to the Stockton Food Bank, his spokesman told the Washington Examiner.
A spokeswoman for Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) told the Associated Press that he will give away his funds to an “appropriate charity.” Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) donated Bankman-Fried’s contributions to food banks across the Golden State.
Several other lawmakers have said they will be giving away money they received from Bankman-Fried to charity but haven’t specified which specific causes they will be supporting.
Bankman-Fried has been charged by the U.S. with fraudulent behavior after promoting FTX as a reliable cryptocurrency asset trading platform. He made his first appearance in Bahamian court Tuesday and did not waive his right to an extradition hearing.
If convicted, the disgraced former billionaire could face decades behind bars.
This week, lawmakers questioned John Ray III, the CEO hired to guide FTX through bankruptcy. He testified that record-keeping for the company under Bankman-Fried was virtually nonexistent.
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“It’s an absence of record-keeping. Employees would communicate invoicing and expenses on Slack, which is essentially a way of communicating [in] chatrooms,” Ray told lawmakers. “They used QuickBooks — a multibillion-dollar company using QuickBooks.”
Bankman-Fried is currently holed up in a Bahamian jail cell and was denied bail given that he is a flight risk. The judge ruled that Bankman-Fried should be held in custody in the Bahamas until February of next year.