Sam Bankman-Fried lobbies Trump supporters, seeks pardon from the new President
The post Sam Bankman-Fried lobbies Trump supporters, seeks pardon from the new President appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the co-founder of the bankrupt FTX exchange, is moving closer to Trump supporters. Bankman-Fried also revived the drive to achieve a Presidential pardon, although he has not reached out to Trump directly. Sam Bankman-Fried may be seeking a pardon from US President Donald Trump. To that end, Bankman-Fried started to build an image of being a Republican supporter, and not actually a hardline Democrat. The entangled history of Bankman-Fried’s political donations may give him favor with both US parties. Data showed Bankman-Fried was in charge of as much as $100M in political donations during the heyday of FTX. The donations toward the Democratic party, however, did not translate into a Presidential pardon at the end of Joe Biden’s mandate. So the FTX founder chose to play the Republican card and try to pull a feat similar to Andrew Tate’s escape from his Eastern European confinement. A new effort is underway, as reported by the NY Times, to build a case for his freedom before President Trump. Bankman-Fried has gathered a group of supporters and consultants, headed by his parents, Mr. Bankman and Ms. Fried. The recent communication and PR campaign are trying to gain ground despite the previous political affiliations of Bankman-Fried, and his closeness to the US Democratic Party. The group is communicating with Kory Langhofer, an Arizona lawyer who worked on Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns. Reportedly, the group around Bankman-Fried is also trying to tap Washington lobbyists and politically connected business people to present the case that FTX did not actually hurt its clients and was capable of paying back their claims. The process of getting Trump’s attention has already started, to the discontent of the crypto community. Without the pardon, Bankman-Fried faces a 25-year prison sentence for fraud against the company’s clients and lenders. …
Filed under: News - @ March 7, 2025 10:18 pm