(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Sam Bankman-Fried, the crypto fraudster and longtime Democratic donor, is conveniently aligning himself with the Republican Party as he positions himself as a victim of government weaponization in a bid to receive a pardon from President Donald Trump.
SBF made damning comments about his former allies in the Democratic Party—including former President Joe Biden—during a Thursday interview on the Tucker Carlson Show. His comments are puzzling, given he was the second-largest donor to Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, trailing only Michael Bloomberg.
“In 2020, I was center-left and I gave to Biden’s campaign. I was optimistic he would be a center-left president,” SBF claimed. “I spent the next few years in D.C. a lot. I was really, really shocked by what I saw there… and not in a good direction from the administration.”
His comments came after Carlson asked him why Democrats did not rescue him from prosecution as they had done for controversial figures, like Tony Podesta—the infamous brother of former Clinton official John Podesta.
“By late 2022, I was giving to Republicans privately as much as Democrats, and that started becoming known right around after FTX’s collapse—so, that probably played a role,” SBF added.
Sam Bankman-Fried just admitted to private talks with Republicans during FTX collapse – because of alarming findings within the Biden Administration.
SBF was trying to get a pardon from President Trump just weeks ago… pic.twitter.com/DJlFb0gpLB
— Pluid (@tryPluid) March 6, 2025
SBF’s interview on Carlson appears to be part of a longshot effort to persuade Trump to either pardon or commute his sentence.
“Bankman-Fried has told associates that he has been interested in seeking a Trump pardon since November’s election,” the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing a source familiar with the matter.
Other individuals involved in this pardon-seeking effort include SBF’s parents, Joe Bankman and Barbara Fried, while other allies have reached out to Trump himself or spoken to White House advisors.
SBF was sentenced to 25 years after he orchestrated several fraudulent schemes tied to cryptocurrency. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $11 billion in forfeiture.
He was the owner of FTX, a crypto exchange company that illegally stole customers’ funds for his own crypto trading firm, Alameda Research, in a bid to enrich himself.
He used those funds to support a lavish lifestyle—purchasing real estate, donating to Democrats and even renaming the Miami Heat area to FTX Arena. His crimes amounted to one of the largest Ponzi schemes in modern history.
