Bitcoin could soar to new heights this week, but some Democratic members of Congress are likely lambasting the cryptocurrency.
A joint fundraising committee associated with the Democratic National Committee has collected 765,000 from a convicted cryptocurrency executive to a federal agency best known for hunting criminal suspects, according to a Raw Story review of federal campaign finance records. handed over the dollar.
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The DNC and joint fundraising committee Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund sent $365,000 and $400,000, respectively, to the U.S. Marshals Service on January 8, collecting donations from executives at the defunct cryptocurrency company FTX. It is the newest political committee in the world. .
The original donation was made in 2022 by Sam Bankman Fried, former CEO and founder of FTX. In October, a federal jury convicted Bankman Fried of stealing $8 billion from clients and using some of the money to make political contributions, The New York Times reported.
The DNC did not respond to Raw Story's request for comment.
Law Story first reported in April that the U.S. Marshals Service began collecting donations from Bankman Fried and other former FTX executives, an unprecedented move for a federal agency.
By September, the marshals had raised more than $1.35 million from more than 150 political campaigns and committees, Raw Story reported.
To date, the sheriffs have collected more than $2.3 million in FTX donations, according to a recent review of Federal Election Commission records by Law Story.
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The “disgorgement” from the DNC and Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund is the second largest single sale of FTX-related campaign funds after the $500,000 returned from Priorities USA Action, a Democratic super PAC, according to FEC records. It is the largest scale of its kind.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee previously sent $250,000 in contributions to the U.S. Marshals, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee sent back $36,500.
Republican committees also had five- and six-figure donations confiscated, including the National Republican Senatorial Committee ($109,500) and the Republican National Committee ($25,000).
The campaigns of prominent politicians, from House Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), have also received funding from FTX executives to Marshalls. was being sent.
FTX's former chief executive officer, Sam Bankman Fried, appeared at a bail hearing in Manhattan federal court on August 11. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
The DNC raised nearly $137.4 million from January 1, 2023 to January 31, 2024, and the Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund raised more than $12.3 million during the same period, according to FEC records.
The Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund helps fund the DNC and state-level Democratic committees across the country.
Nicholas Beers, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, which prosecuted Bankman Fried's case, referred questions to the U.S. Marshals.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service did not respond to Raw Story's request for comment.
Bankman Fried donated more than $40 million to political campaigns during the 2022 campaign, according to an analysis by CBS News.
Bankman Fried, who turns 32 today, is awaiting sentencing within the next two weeks and could face more than 100 years in prison. But his lawyers argue he will only serve six and a half years at most.
