White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has refused to respond. to a journalist’s questions about whether US President Joe Biden will return the $5.2 million in campaign donations previously given by FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
“Will the president return that donation?” asked Associated Press writer Zeke Miller at a December 13 press conference. “Are you calling on all politicians who received campaign donations that may have come from client money to return those funds?”.
“The Hatch Law protects me in this”replied Jean-Pierre, adding that he was “limited as far as I can tell”.
“Anything that is related to political contributions, from here I would have to refer you to the DNC”he said, referring to the Democratic National Committee, the governing body of the US Democratic Party.
The Hatch Act is a federal law that prohibits employees of the executive branch from participating in political campaign activities.
“But I’m asking for the President’s opinion”Miller insisted. Jean-Pierre repeated that she was “covered by the Hatch Act”, adding:
“I can’t talk about political contributions or anything related to that, I can’t talk about it.”
Miller again insisted on Jean-Pierre’s response to Biden’s opinionbut she said she couldn’t talk “not even your opinion, not even your thoughts on contributions, donations: I can’t speak […] of that”.
Bankman-Fried was indicted on December 13 for violations of campaign finance laws.including contribution violations Y Obstruction of the functions of the Federal Electoral Commissionas well as making contributions on behalf of others.
He was the second largest “CEO contributor” to Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, with his 5.2 million dollars in donations behind only the $56 million in contributions from media mogul Michael Bloomberg.
The FTX founder was also a top individual donor in the 2022 midterm elections, again the second largest contributor to the Democratic Party in the cycle, with $36.8 million funneled to its candidates.
Public records show that Bankman-Fried sent just over $240,000 to Republicans during the midterm elections, but admitted so-called black money donations in a Nov. 16 interview with cryptocurrency vlogger Tiffany Fong, saying that “he donated more or less the same amount to both parties”.
Politicians receiving political donations from Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives may be forced to repay them to the bankruptcy trustee due to bankruptcy proceedings. Up to $73 million in donations could be withdrawn to repay bankrupt exchange creditors.
Some politicians have already resorted to donating their money to charity in an attempt to distance themselves from the company and its donations..
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