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(Kitco News) -
FTX is no longer asking nicely that political and charitable contributions made by the previous management be returned, according to a press release issued on Feb. 5.
“FTX Debtors are sending confidential messages to political figures, political action funds, and other recipients of contributions or other payments that were made by or at the direction of the FTX Debtors, Samuel Bankman-Fried or other officers or principals of the FTX Debtors,” they wrote. “These recipients are requested to return such funds to the FTX Debtors by February 28, 2023.”
In a Nov. 19 interview, Bankman-Fried was asked about the millions of dollars in campaign donations which he made ahead of the midterms. He said that while the overwhelming majority of public contributions were to Democrats, this did not represent the reality.
“I donated about the same amount to both parties this year,” he said. “That was not generally known, because despite Citizens United being literally the most high-profile Supreme Court case of the decade, for some reason no one could possibly fathom the idea that someone in practice actually gave dark. So all my Republican donations were dark,” he said. “I was the second or third biggest Republican donor this year as well.”
On Dec. 19, 2022 FTX requested that these recipients contact them to voluntarily return the funds, which FTX claims on behalf of their creditors.
Crypto monitoring site Unusual Whales published a list of all members of the United States House and Senate who received contributions from SBF and other senior FTX executives. It shows that of the 196 lawmakers who received funds, the majority have not responded to the Dec. 19 request to return the contributions, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), majority whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) who serves on the House Financial Services Committee, former speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) who helped draft some of the most significant financial industry bills of the last 20 years.
FTX also wrote that if contribution payments are not returned voluntarily, “the FTX Debtors reserve the right to commence actions before the Bankruptcy Court to require the return of such payments, with interest accruing from the date any action is commenced.”
They added that even if the money was subsequently transferred to a third party, including a charity, this “does not prevent the FTX Debtors from seeking recovery from the recipient or any subsequent transferee.” This could complicate matters for lawmakers who claim to have donated the FTX funds to charities, including Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Susan Collins (R-ME).
