FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is about to face trial in regards to charges of fraud and money laundering this week. On Monday, details from Michael Lewis’ “Going Infinite: the Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon” were released that shed some light onto Bankman-Fried’s plans before departing from the crypto industry.
According to the excerpt, Bankman-Fried had plans to pay Donald Trump not to run for re-election and also give $15 million to $30 million to US Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell “to defeat the Trumpier candidates in the Senate races.” The talk reportedlyftook place on a flight to Washington, D.C. Bankman-Fried also mentioned a hypothesis that Trump might value his silence at a price of $5 billion.
Though Trump’s campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung has cdefied the allegation in a statement to The Hill, there is speculation that Bankman-Fried paid Biden nearly $5.2 million for his presidential campaign. Still, during the upcoming trial, Prosecutors will contend that Bankman-Fried illegally pocketed millions of dollars from FTX customer deposits and used the illicit money to establish hedge funds, real estate investments, and illegal campaign donations.
