Trump’s DOJ is not falling for Sam Bankman-Fried’s MAGA makeover on X
Key Takeaways
- Donald Trump took office and declared himself a "pro-crypto president"
- Sam Bankman-Fried has been working to convince the administration he's a Republican now
- DOJ proved he stole, and he faces a 25-year prison sentence
Political pivot on X
Ever since Donald Trump took office and declared himself a “pro-crypto president,” FTX’s disgraced founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, has been working to convince the administration that he’s a Republican now.
“Ever since Donald Trump took office and declared himself a “pro-crypto president,” FTX’s disgraced founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, has been working to convince the administration that he’s a Republican now”
He frequently praises Trump’s policies and quotes Trump’s Truth Social posts on X, and his X bio confirms that posts are: “SBF’s words. Posted through a proxy.”
Conviction and sentence
The former Democratic megadonor apparently hopes that a right-wing pivot might help him escape a 25-year prison sentence ordered after Joe Biden’s Department of Justice proved he stole more than $8 billion from customers of his cryptocurrency exchange.
He has cited that strategy as a possible route to leniency as he seeks to overturn or reduce his sentence.
New trial allegation
In a motion for a new trial, Bankman-Fried alleged that Biden officials intimidated FTX employees into lying on the stand or refusing to testify in order to take him down as a political foe.
“Ever since Donald Trump took office and declared himself a “pro-crypto president,” FTX’s disgraced founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, has been working to convince the administration that he’s a Republican now”
He has also repeatedly ranted against Democrats in his posts as part of the broader argument that he was a political target.
DOJ and White House response
Trump has yet to signal that he’s considering pardoning Bankman-Fried; the White House told Fortune that “Trump has no intention of pardoning Bankman-Fried.”
On top of that, Trump’s Department of Justice has asked the court to deny the new-trial request, with government attorney Sean Buckley calling Bankman-Fried’s attempt to claim “political victimhood” “incoherent.”
Buckley pointed out that Bankman-Fried was “one of the largest donors to President Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign” and alleged that Bankman-Fried’s abrupt party-swapping was “a political strategy the defendant pre-planned and committed to in writing before he was convicted, and one he is now executing from prison in an insincere attempt to obtain leniency.”
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