A White House spokesman questioned whether President Joe Biden is considering reinstating Sam Bankman-Fried’s political contributions.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to answer a reporter’s question about whether US President Joe Biden will return $5.2 million in campaign contributions previously given by FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
“Will the president return this gift?” Associated Press reporter Zeke Miller asked in a December 13 press conference. “Does it call all the politicians who received campaign donations who can get that money back from the client’s money?”
“I’m covered here by the Hatch Act,” replied Jean-Pierre, adding that he “is limited in what I can say.”
“Anything related to political donations, from there I will send you to the DNC,” he said, referring to the Democratic National Committee, the governing body of the US Democratic Party. The Hatch Act is a federal law that prohibits employees of major government departments from participating in political campaign events.
“I’m asking for the president’s opinion,” Miller insisted. Jean-Pierre reiterated that he was “covered by the Hatch law”, adding:
“I can’t talk about political donations or anything related to that, I can’t talk about it here.”
Miller confirmed Jean-Pierre’s response to Biden’s opinion, Bushe said that he could not comment “even his opinion, even his opinion about the gift, the gift – I can’t say […] that from here”.
Bankman-Fried was charged with defrauding media finance laws on Dec. 13, including the violation of donations and obstructing the work of the Federal Election Commission, as well as giving donations on behalf of others. He is the second largest “CEO contributor” to the Biden presidential campaign in 2020, with his $5.2 million contribution behind only campaigner Michael Bloomberg’s $56 million in contributions.
The founder of FTX is also the top donor in the 2022 midterm elections, again the second Democratic Party supporter of the cycle, with $36.8 million given to his candidates. Public records show Bankman-Fried sent more than $240,000 to Republicans in the midterms, but she admitted to making dark donations during the Nov. 16 and crypto vlogger. coin Tiffany Fong, saying that she “gave both sides about one”. “
Politicians who receive political donations from Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives can be forced to return them to the payer at any time, due to the bankruptcy process. Up to $73 million in grants could be recalled to repay creditors from the failed exchange.
Some politicians have already started donating their money to charity to distance themselves from the industry and its donations.
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