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Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, shared that he had donated to both political parties.
The revelation
Sitting down for an interview with Tiffany Fong, the FTX founder revealed that he donated to both parties, saying:
“I donated to both parties.”
“I donated about the same amount to both parties,” said Bankman-Fried.
Democratic donations
Since the crypto exchange’s 2019 launch, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) has been known to support Democratic candidates.
In 2020, SBF was one of Joe Biden’s most prominent campaign donors leading to his presidency.
He gave $5,220,000 from FTX US and $6,242,800 from Alameda Research.
Read also: Sam Bankman-Fried Faces Downfall with FTX Collapse
Republican donations
SBF cited the Citizens United Supreme Court case while talking about his donations to the Republican Party.
“All my Republican donations were dark,” said Bankman-Fried.
“In practice, no one can fathom the idea that someone actually gave dark [money].”
Dark money
Political finance tracking website Open Secrets refers to “dark money” as spending that influences political outcomes, where the source of the money is undisclosed.
Sam Bankman-Fried explained that he chose to donate dark money to avoid attention from the public.
He also explained that journalists “freak the **** out if you donate to Republicans.”
The former FTX CEP labeled journalists super-liberal and said he didn’t want to start a fight.
SBF explained and said they conceded in the primary because there were good and bad candidates compared to the general election.
However, Bankman-Fried didn’t expand on what he considers a good or bad candidate.
Ukraine rumors
Sam Bankman-Fried also cleared up rumors that he was helping Ukraine launder money for the Democratic Party.
FactCheck.org, a nonprofit, non-partisan election organization, also called the allegation false.
The group wrote an article dismissing the conspiracy theory, saying:
“There is no evidence to support the claim that Ukraine invested in or gave money to FTX.”
Sam Bankman-Fried says he can’t think of why Ukraine would launder funds for the Democratic Party or how anyone would launder funds.
“I wish I were a part of an international conspiracy that interesting,” said SBF.
Read also: Elon Musk says SBF didn’t contribute to Twitter buy
Other notes
After the company’s collapse, several US officials called for an investigation into Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX.
The US Financial Services Committee requested that SBF appear in Washington to testify on December 13.
Reference:
SBF hid Republican donations so media wouldn’t ‘freak the fuck out’
