5 ms·

> SBF has few friends SBF was the second-biggest donor to the Dems in the 2022 midterm elections. Not only does he have friends, he also has a cadre of politic

> SBF has few friends SBF was the second-biggest donor to the Dems in the 2022 midterm elections. Not only does he have friends, he also has a cadre of politicians who will look terrible in the case that their major supporter ends up rotting in prison. It is unsurprising that some people believe he could walk.

sfpotter 4y ago
Friends? Or fair weather friends?
- rippercushions 4y ago
  This. As a friend who's had more than his fair share of dealing with politicians in countries far more corrupt than the US likes to say, you can buy people, but you can't make sure they stay bought.
Server6 4y ago
He also donated a ton to Republicans. He was trying to buy crypto regulation. Those people aren't his friends. If anything they see him as an embarrassment/liability now.
- happyopossum 4y ago
  $235,000 out of nearly $40,000,000 isn’t “a ton”. It’s barely enough to even register - but it does make the media narrative sound better as he goes down in flames to be able to say he donated to both parties. [0] https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/11/megadonor-no-more-sam-bankman-fried-spent-his-way-into-the-good-graces-of-washington-then-lost-it-all/ https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/11/megadonor-no-more-s...
  - trequartista 4y ago
    He also funneled almost an equal amount of dark money to Republicans. Plenty of sources for this - https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/30/ftx-billionaire-sam-bankman-fried-dark-money-republicans https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/30/ftx-billi... https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/12/sam-bankman-fried-donations-democrat-republican/672368/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/12/sam-bankma...
    - totalZero 4y ago
      Hold your horses sir. Both of those links cite the same not-reliable source: a comment [0] made by Sam Bankman-Fried in a conversation with crypto YouTuber Tiffany Fong. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DezodR9hNI&t=774s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DezodR9hNI&t=774s
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - acdha 4y ago
    According to SBF, so potentially unreliable source: > “I donated to both parties. I donated about the same amount to both parties,” Bankman-Fried told the crypto commentator and citizen journalist Tiffany Fong. > “All my Republican donations were dark,” he said, referring to political donations that are not publicly disclosed. “The reason was not for regulatory reasons, it’s because reporters freak the fuck out if you donate to Republicans. They’re all super liberal, and I didn’t want to have that fight.” https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/30/ftx-billionaire-sam-bankman-fried-dark-money-republicans https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/30/ftx-billi... This isn't terribly different from the pattern we see with a lot of tech companies where direct employee donations often favor Democrats but donations to PACs which then support candidates have the opposite trend (varying in degree based on the industry and balance of power where the company's interests lie).
    - totalZero 4y ago
      At this point it would be naive to take at face value anything SBF said about his money. Financially speaking, he appears to be the world's biggest liar of 2022. > direct employee donations often favor Democrats but donations to PACs which then support candidates Rather than speculating, we could alternatively choose to look at some numbers: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13Wq2kPw3C4X_50Tqc8H9mMrNynuwTlURDX1QWT3T_ck https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13Wq2kPw3C4X_50Tqc8H9...
      - acdha 4y ago
        I’m aware that he publicly donated to Democratic PACs. I was just trying to illustrate that there’s considerable precedent for someone being strategic about which donations they think will be unpopular with their friends, customers, employees, etc. Given that he basically ran a money laundering machine this is extremely plausible - the amounts which various people reportedly embezzled would be plenty to fund a ton of PAC spending and it’ll take forensic accountants years to figure out whether that happened.
  - jeromegv 4y ago
    Now add his co-founder, 24 millions https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/01/crypto-politics-ryan-salame-sbf-sam-bankman-fried/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/01/crypto-po...
  - bink 4y ago
    His co-CEO donated $24 million to Republicans. Not that I think any of this has any relevancy. It's just more tribalism and distraction. I'm a bit sad that it's so prevalent on a site that values honest and open debate. https://www.wsj.com/articles/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-team-among-top-political-donors-before-bankruptcy-11668949205 https://www.wsj.com/articles/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-team-amon...
jamesboehmer 4y ago
He admitted he secretly donated an equal amount to republicans: https://gizmodo.com/ftx-sam-bankman-fried-sbf-secret-donations-republicans-1849834727 https://gizmodo.com/ftx-sam-bankman-fried-sbf-secret-donatio.... They have his money and don't need him anymore.
- addingadimensio 4y ago
  ‘Secretly donated’ are people really still buying what he’s selling?
  - notinfuriated 4y ago
    I assume people believe claims like this with zero evidence because it is convenient and alleviates any cognitive dissonance (re: Democrats being for the little guy and not just as 'corrupt' as Republicans). If SBF did donate the large amounts of money he claims he did as "dark money", surely he could prove this.
    - sangnoir 4y ago
      > If SBF did donate the large amounts of money he claims he did as "dark money", surely he could prove this. To what end? Selectively believing what SBF says is a Rorschach test. If it was something that goes against your your politics "Oh, he is obviously lying" while simultaneously "He is running his mouth and confessing his crimes unforced". It's particularly notsble because those who disbelieve SBF spending dark money agree with his reasoning dor doing so. I his own words, he said most journalists/media folk are on the left, and he wanted journalists to like him, so he publicly donated to the Dems and made dark money donations to Republicans. He also specifically mentioned Citizens United for enabling this.
      - notinfuriated 4y ago
        To the end that people might actually have to accept the claim as true rather than 'believing' in it or not. Granted, he doesn't owe anyone any sort of proof of his claims. You can make as many assumptions as you want about what it says about the people who believe or disbelieve the claim, the fact remains it's unsubstantiated, just an idea he threw out in an interview. And just like I am not owed proof of the claim, he's not owed my belief in it. > If it was something that goes against your your politics "Oh, he is obviously lying" while simultaneously "He is running his mouth and confessing his crimes unforced". Why do you feel coming up with a strawman argument is appropriate here? Is it just to point out that my disbelief in his dark money claim must mean that I also adhere to these two contradictory quotes, therefore I'm an idiot who believes contradictory things? Great argument. And maybe others have said this, but I didn't. I've said nothing about SBF "confessing" crimes, and as far as I can tell, he's trying to play dumb and pin the blame on other hated figures like Caroline Ellison, and he has not confessed to anything. At least, this is how I read your comment. It may not be a generous interpretation, I apologize for that, but at least I'll acknowledge it. Posting an example of contradictory statements in direct response to my comment (as an of illustration of the silliness of people who agree with my position) is, I think, even less generous.
smcl 4y ago
We'll see, but I think the more likely outcome is that the recipients of the donations will realise it's more harmful to stick their neck out for him than it is to just step away. To be honest I don't even who all the recipients of his donations are and what they could possibly do to aid him, people are acting like he's basically bought the US justice system and is basically as good as acquitted.
selectodude 4y ago
Madoff donated a ton of money to Democrats. Elizabeth Holmes literally hosted a fundraiser for Hilary Clinton. Both ended up in jail. On the other hand, pardons under Republican presidents tend to be a who's who of white-collar criminal shitbags. If I'm doing crimes, I know who I'm donating to! Just look at this list! https://www.nytimes.com/article/who-did-trump-pardon.html https://www.nytimes.com/article/who-did-trump-pardon.html
- mythrwy 4y ago
  While I agree Trump did pardon a large number of shitbags, so did Clinton. Marc Rich? And Trump even pardoned Rod Blagojevich a powerful and horribly corrupt Democrat. So much for the swamp draining I guess. The corruption of the powerful apparently transcends party lines. Almost like these lines are a diversion and distraction for the little people.
  - selectodude 4y ago
    As a Chicagoan, I struggle to call Rod anything more than a stupid asshole and a total opportunist (notice how he got on Trump's radar because his wife was going on Fox News and calling Democrats evil). Marc Rich was bullshit though. Absolutely disgraceful. That being said, I'd still rather cast my net with Republicans though if I'm trying to get out of jail for white collar crime. Clinton had n=1 and was famous for not commuting crimes. Trump basically legalized white collar crimes for his friends. Even Bush let some real pieces of shit off.
    - archagon 4y ago
      Not to mention actual murderers like Eddie Gallagher.
  - misiti3780 4y ago
    Trump pardoned Anthony Levandowski also
MajimasEyepatch 4y ago
It’s not like he’s a guy who’s been on the political scene for decades. He just popped up in the last couple of cycles, and his money is gone, so he’s easily replaced. Plus, whether he goes to prison or not, he’s made every politician who took money from him look terrible, so whatever “friends” he may have bought have little to gain from sticking with him.
AnIrishDuck 4y ago
Madoff was also a big political donor [1]. Most politicians (credibly) claimed they were unaware of his shenanigans and returned his money. Probably exactly what's going to happen here. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Madoff#Government_access https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Madoff#Government_acces...
mikeyouse 4y ago
Much of his financial support was to Democrats in primaries -- so it was literally spent against democrats as much as it was in support of them. Over 1/4 of his 2022 giving was to a single candidate in Oregon (Carrick Flynn) who was running against a well-liked Democrat incumbent (Andrea Salinas). Flynn lost, SBF spent nearly $1,000/vote in that primary, and basically garnered zero 'power' from that spending. If anything he antagonized the actual power brokers by diverting their resources to support a candidate that otherwise would have won without intervention.
dtjb 4y ago
All the more reason why politicians won't throw him a lifeline. They gain nothing at this point by defending or supporting him. It's not entirely the same, but we saw this with the Elizabeth Holmes case. The powerful people that supported her early on became her biggest detractors when the shit hit the fan. Their reputation was tarnished by association. They severed all support and publicly decried her as a fraud. We're already seeing the same [1] with SBF. [1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-17/bankman-fried-turns-toxic-in-congress-even-among-those-he-backed https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-17/bankman-f...
faefox 4y ago
If only he'd donated to the GOP, he could've scored a preemptive Trump pardon!
- boringg 4y ago
  He donated the same amount to the GOP it's not getting as much attention.
  - kipchak 4y ago
    SBF has claimed to have donated as much (without proof), but he's also claimed to have not committed any crimes.
    - smcl 4y ago
      He's been very careful and cagey about those other claims though - things like saying he didn't implement an FTX/Alameda backdoor (deliberately avoiding the more important issue of whether one existed and whether he used it) and saying he didn't try to commit fraud (sure he didn't try, but he succeeded on a rather impressive scale).
    - fortuna86 4y ago
      What would he have to gain from lying about donating to Republicans? He lies about not committing crimes to stay out of prison. Seems like a lot of partisans want SBF to be a democratic cartoon villain and won't let reality get in the way of that assessment.
  - trellad 4y ago
    That is probably because the source on his dark money donations is SBF and that's it.
    - boringg 4y ago
      What does he have to gain out of saying that? My only take is that he can prevent prevent Fox & hard right from further making him to be a democratic super donor and try and paint the entire democratic party/system as corrupt.
wpietri 4y ago
Your theory is that the people are so very corrupt that they are taking money to betray their country, but so loyal that they'll defend a guy who won't be able to do anything for them ever again? It just doesn't make sense. SBF is already notorious and will be for a long time. Whether or not he's convicted in the US, that's already guaranteed, especially since other countries may go after him. The best thing Democrats (or Republicans if they took his money) can do for themselves is to very publicly get him to face justice. Which is why you see the chair of the House Financial Services Committee inviting him to come talk in front of Congress. Corrupt or not, their best line of action is to demonstrate independence and grease his slide to a long prison sentence.
- coffeebeqn 4y ago
  Even the most cynical (possibly accurate) take is that politicians only care about getting elected. How would defending a confirmed bankrupt scammer help anyone get elected? He doesn’t have any money or power left
jjfoooo6 4y ago
A prominent new donor gets is responsible for a massive financial collapse and likely fraud, resulting in major losses for retail investors. Options are: 1. Claim ignorance of shady practices and disown donor. 2. Pull strings to avoid a real prosecution, and claim the guy did nothing wrong. People really think politicians are going to choose option 2?
- vharuck 4y ago
  I'd also like to hear skeptics explain how he's going to continue donating. Because politicians have a lot more to gain by keeping past donations and throwing him to the wolves.
testfoobar 4y ago
This is a Dec 2 tweet from Representative Maxine Waters, Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee: ".@SBF_FTX, we appreciate that you've been candid in your discussions about what happened at #FTX. Your willingness to talk to the public will help the company's customers, investors, and others. To that end, we would welcome your participation in our hearing on the 13th." https://twitter.com/RepMaxineWaters/status/1598693811252875264?s=20&t=g2HYU0tWN8Nv1a-myRFMSw https://twitter.com/RepMaxineWaters/status/15986938112528752... She backtracks a bit afterwards.
- coffeebeqn 4y ago
  I mean what’s the big deal? Should he not be invited to a hearing to explain what he did?
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
fortuna86 4y ago
He was also the second largest donor to Republicans, which he did in secret to avoid criticism from liberal friends. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/30/ftx-billionaire-sam-bankman-fried-dark-money-republicans https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/30/ftx-billi...

sfpotter 4y ago

Friends? Or fair weather friends?

rippercushions 4y ago
This. As a friend who's had more than his fair share of dealing with politicians in countries far more corrupt than the US likes to say, you can buy people, but you can't make sure they stay bought.

Server6 4y ago

He also donated a ton to Republicans. He was trying to buy crypto regulation. Those people aren't his friends. If anything they see him as an embarrassment/liability now.

happyopossum 4y ago
$235,000 out of nearly $40,000,000 isn’t “a ton”. It’s barely enough to even register - but it does make the media narrative sound better as he goes down in flames to be able to say he donated to both parties. [0] https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/11/megadonor-no-more-sam-bankman-fried-spent-his-way-into-the-good-graces-of-washington-then-lost-it-all/ https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/11/megadonor-no-more-s...
- trequartista 4y ago
  He also funneled almost an equal amount of dark money to Republicans. Plenty of sources for this - https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/30/ftx-billionaire-sam-bankman-fried-dark-money-republicans https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/30/ftx-billi... https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/12/sam-bankman-fried-donations-democrat-republican/672368/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/12/sam-bankma...
  - totalZero 4y ago
    Hold your horses sir. Both of those links cite the same not-reliable source: a comment [0] made by Sam Bankman-Fried in a conversation with crypto YouTuber Tiffany Fong. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DezodR9hNI&t=774s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DezodR9hNI&t=774s
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- acdha 4y ago
  According to SBF, so potentially unreliable source: > “I donated to both parties. I donated about the same amount to both parties,” Bankman-Fried told the crypto commentator and citizen journalist Tiffany Fong. > “All my Republican donations were dark,” he said, referring to political donations that are not publicly disclosed. “The reason was not for regulatory reasons, it’s because reporters freak the fuck out if you donate to Republicans. They’re all super liberal, and I didn’t want to have that fight.” https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/30/ftx-billionaire-sam-bankman-fried-dark-money-republicans https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/30/ftx-billi... This isn't terribly different from the pattern we see with a lot of tech companies where direct employee donations often favor Democrats but donations to PACs which then support candidates have the opposite trend (varying in degree based on the industry and balance of power where the company's interests lie).
  - totalZero 4y ago
    At this point it would be naive to take at face value anything SBF said about his money. Financially speaking, he appears to be the world's biggest liar of 2022. > direct employee donations often favor Democrats but donations to PACs which then support candidates Rather than speculating, we could alternatively choose to look at some numbers: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13Wq2kPw3C4X_50Tqc8H9mMrNynuwTlURDX1QWT3T_ck https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13Wq2kPw3C4X_50Tqc8H9...
    - acdha 4y ago
      I’m aware that he publicly donated to Democratic PACs. I was just trying to illustrate that there’s considerable precedent for someone being strategic about which donations they think will be unpopular with their friends, customers, employees, etc. Given that he basically ran a money laundering machine this is extremely plausible - the amounts which various people reportedly embezzled would be plenty to fund a ton of PAC spending and it’ll take forensic accountants years to figure out whether that happened.
- jeromegv 4y ago
  Now add his co-founder, 24 millions https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/01/crypto-politics-ryan-salame-sbf-sam-bankman-fried/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/01/crypto-po...
- bink 4y ago
  His co-CEO donated $24 million to Republicans. Not that I think any of this has any relevancy. It's just more tribalism and distraction. I'm a bit sad that it's so prevalent on a site that values honest and open debate. https://www.wsj.com/articles/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-team-among-top-political-donors-before-bankruptcy-11668949205 https://www.wsj.com/articles/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-team-amon...

jamesboehmer 4y ago

He admitted he secretly donated an equal amount to republicans: https://gizmodo.com/ftx-sam-bankman-fried-sbf-secret-donations-republicans-1849834727 https://gizmodo.com/ftx-sam-bankman-fried-sbf-secret-donatio.... They have his money and don't need him anymore.

addingadimensio 4y ago
‘Secretly donated’ are people really still buying what he’s selling?
- notinfuriated 4y ago
  I assume people believe claims like this with zero evidence because it is convenient and alleviates any cognitive dissonance (re: Democrats being for the little guy and not just as 'corrupt' as Republicans). If SBF did donate the large amounts of money he claims he did as "dark money", surely he could prove this.
  - sangnoir 4y ago
    > If SBF did donate the large amounts of money he claims he did as "dark money", surely he could prove this. To what end? Selectively believing what SBF says is a Rorschach test. If it was something that goes against your your politics "Oh, he is obviously lying" while simultaneously "He is running his mouth and confessing his crimes unforced". It's particularly notsble because those who disbelieve SBF spending dark money agree with his reasoning dor doing so. I his own words, he said most journalists/media folk are on the left, and he wanted journalists to like him, so he publicly donated to the Dems and made dark money donations to Republicans. He also specifically mentioned Citizens United for enabling this.
    - notinfuriated 4y ago
      To the end that people might actually have to accept the claim as true rather than 'believing' in it or not. Granted, he doesn't owe anyone any sort of proof of his claims. You can make as many assumptions as you want about what it says about the people who believe or disbelieve the claim, the fact remains it's unsubstantiated, just an idea he threw out in an interview. And just like I am not owed proof of the claim, he's not owed my belief in it. > If it was something that goes against your your politics "Oh, he is obviously lying" while simultaneously "He is running his mouth and confessing his crimes unforced". Why do you feel coming up with a strawman argument is appropriate here? Is it just to point out that my disbelief in his dark money claim must mean that I also adhere to these two contradictory quotes, therefore I'm an idiot who believes contradictory things? Great argument. And maybe others have said this, but I didn't. I've said nothing about SBF "confessing" crimes, and as far as I can tell, he's trying to play dumb and pin the blame on other hated figures like Caroline Ellison, and he has not confessed to anything. At least, this is how I read your comment. It may not be a generous interpretation, I apologize for that, but at least I'll acknowledge it. Posting an example of contradictory statements in direct response to my comment (as an of illustration of the silliness of people who agree with my position) is, I think, even less generous.

smcl 4y ago

We'll see, but I think the more likely outcome is that the recipients of the donations will realise it's more harmful to stick their neck out for him than it is to just step away. To be honest I don't even who all the recipients of his donations are and what they could possibly do to aid him, people are acting like he's basically bought the US justice system and is basically as good as acquitted.

selectodude 4y ago

Madoff donated a ton of money to Democrats. Elizabeth Holmes literally hosted a fundraiser for Hilary Clinton. Both ended up in jail. On the other hand, pardons under Republican presidents tend to be a who's who of white-collar criminal shitbags. If I'm doing crimes, I know who I'm donating to! Just look at this list! https://www.nytimes.com/article/who-did-trump-pardon.html https://www.nytimes.com/article/who-did-trump-pardon.html

mythrwy 4y ago
While I agree Trump did pardon a large number of shitbags, so did Clinton. Marc Rich? And Trump even pardoned Rod Blagojevich a powerful and horribly corrupt Democrat. So much for the swamp draining I guess. The corruption of the powerful apparently transcends party lines. Almost like these lines are a diversion and distraction for the little people.
- selectodude 4y ago
  As a Chicagoan, I struggle to call Rod anything more than a stupid asshole and a total opportunist (notice how he got on Trump's radar because his wife was going on Fox News and calling Democrats evil). Marc Rich was bullshit though. Absolutely disgraceful. That being said, I'd still rather cast my net with Republicans though if I'm trying to get out of jail for white collar crime. Clinton had n=1 and was famous for not commuting crimes. Trump basically legalized white collar crimes for his friends. Even Bush let some real pieces of shit off.
  - archagon 4y ago
    Not to mention actual murderers like Eddie Gallagher.
- misiti3780 4y ago
  Trump pardoned Anthony Levandowski also

MajimasEyepatch 4y ago

It’s not like he’s a guy who’s been on the political scene for decades. He just popped up in the last couple of cycles, and his money is gone, so he’s easily replaced. Plus, whether he goes to prison or not, he’s made every politician who took money from him look terrible, so whatever “friends” he may have bought have little to gain from sticking with him.

AnIrishDuck 4y ago

Madoff was also a big political donor [1]. Most politicians (credibly) claimed they were unaware of his shenanigans and returned his money. Probably exactly what's going to happen here. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Madoff#Government_access https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Madoff#Government_acces...

mikeyouse 4y ago

Much of his financial support was to Democrats in primaries -- so it was literally spent against democrats as much as it was in support of them. Over 1/4 of his 2022 giving was to a single candidate in Oregon (Carrick Flynn) who was running against a well-liked Democrat incumbent (Andrea Salinas). Flynn lost, SBF spent nearly $1,000/vote in that primary, and basically garnered zero 'power' from that spending. If anything he antagonized the actual power brokers by diverting their resources to support a candidate that otherwise would have won without intervention.

dtjb 4y ago

All the more reason why politicians won't throw him a lifeline. They gain nothing at this point by defending or supporting him. It's not entirely the same, but we saw this with the Elizabeth Holmes case. The powerful people that supported her early on became her biggest detractors when the shit hit the fan. Their reputation was tarnished by association. They severed all support and publicly decried her as a fraud. We're already seeing the same [1] with SBF. [1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-17/bankman-fried-turns-toxic-in-congress-even-among-those-he-backed https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-17/bankman-f...

faefox 4y ago

If only he'd donated to the GOP, he could've scored a preemptive Trump pardon!

boringg 4y ago
He donated the same amount to the GOP it's not getting as much attention.
- kipchak 4y ago
  SBF has claimed to have donated as much (without proof), but he's also claimed to have not committed any crimes.
  - smcl 4y ago
    He's been very careful and cagey about those other claims though - things like saying he didn't implement an FTX/Alameda backdoor (deliberately avoiding the more important issue of whether one existed and whether he used it) and saying he didn't try to commit fraud (sure he didn't try, but he succeeded on a rather impressive scale).
  - fortuna86 4y ago
    What would he have to gain from lying about donating to Republicans? He lies about not committing crimes to stay out of prison. Seems like a lot of partisans want SBF to be a democratic cartoon villain and won't let reality get in the way of that assessment.
- trellad 4y ago
  That is probably because the source on his dark money donations is SBF and that's it.
  - boringg 4y ago
    What does he have to gain out of saying that? My only take is that he can prevent prevent Fox & hard right from further making him to be a democratic super donor and try and paint the entire democratic party/system as corrupt.

wpietri 4y ago

Your theory is that the people are so very corrupt that they are taking money to betray their country, but so loyal that they'll defend a guy who won't be able to do anything for them ever again? It just doesn't make sense. SBF is already notorious and will be for a long time. Whether or not he's convicted in the US, that's already guaranteed, especially since other countries may go after him. The best thing Democrats (or Republicans if they took his money) can do for themselves is to very publicly get him to face justice. Which is why you see the chair of the House Financial Services Committee inviting him to come talk in front of Congress. Corrupt or not, their best line of action is to demonstrate independence and grease his slide to a long prison sentence.

coffeebeqn 4y ago
Even the most cynical (possibly accurate) take is that politicians only care about getting elected. How would defending a confirmed bankrupt scammer help anyone get elected? He doesn’t have any money or power left

jjfoooo6 4y ago

A prominent new donor gets is responsible for a massive financial collapse and likely fraud, resulting in major losses for retail investors. Options are: 1. Claim ignorance of shady practices and disown donor. 2. Pull strings to avoid a real prosecution, and claim the guy did nothing wrong. People really think politicians are going to choose option 2?

vharuck 4y ago
I'd also like to hear skeptics explain how he's going to continue donating. Because politicians have a lot more to gain by keeping past donations and throwing him to the wolves.

testfoobar 4y ago

This is a Dec 2 tweet from Representative Maxine Waters, Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee: ".@SBF_FTX, we appreciate that you've been candid in your discussions about what happened at #FTX. Your willingness to talk to the public will help the company's customers, investors, and others. To that end, we would welcome your participation in our hearing on the 13th." https://twitter.com/RepMaxineWaters/status/1598693811252875264?s=20&t=g2HYU0tWN8Nv1a-myRFMSw https://twitter.com/RepMaxineWaters/status/15986938112528752... She backtracks a bit afterwards.

coffeebeqn 4y ago
I mean what’s the big deal? Should he not be invited to a hearing to explain what he did?
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

fortuna86 4y ago

He was also the second largest donor to Republicans, which he did in secret to avoid criticism from liberal friends. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/30/ftx-billionaire-sam-bankman-fried-dark-money-republicans https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/30/ftx-billi...