Alleged fraudster and Democratic megadonor Sam Bankman-Fried looked into paying former President Donald Trump not to run for reelection in 2020, according to an excerpt from the upcoming book āGoing Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoonā by author Michael Lewis.
Bankman-Fried, who was then the multibillionaire CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, investigated the legality of bribing then-President Trump with money to not run for the presidency again, according to the excerpt obtained by The Washington Post. Lewis claimed that Bankman-Friedās associates managed to establish a covert communication line with Trumpās camp and found that the then-president could potentially be swayed for $5 billion; itās unclear who the individuals were, and whether they contacted Trump himself.
āIsnāt Sam Bankman-Fried a liar who has been outed as a fraudster and someone that canāt be trusted,ā Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told Business Insider regarding the report.Moreover, Bankman-Fried also simultaneously intended to contribute between $15 and $30 million to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to beat āTrumpierā candidates in 2020 Senate races, according to the book. He believed that Trump was an āexistential threat to humanity,ā according to the book excerpt.
Bankman-Fried contributed more than $39 million to support Democrat-aligned causes, and was the second-largest individual contributor to such causes during the 2022 midterm election cycle, accordingĀ to The Washington Postās analysis of Federal Election Commission data.
Bankman-Fried is currently confined in a jail in New York City, and his trial will begin this week, according to Reuters. He is slated to face seven charges, including defrauding FTX customers and lenders by masterminding a scheme to divert billions of dollars to fund campaign contributions, donations to charities and real estate acquisitions, accordingĀ to the NYT.
The disgraced crypto tycoon allegedly āmisappropriated and embezzled FTX customer deposits, and used billions of dollars in stolen funds for a variety of purposes, including ā¦ to help fund over a hundred million dollars in campaign contributions to Democrats and Republicans to seek to influence cryptocurrency regulation,ā according to an August indictment against him.
The Trump campaign and an attorney for Bankman-Fried did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundationās request for comment.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporterās byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contactĀ [email protected].
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporterās byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contactĀ [email protected].