Monday, January 30, 2023

"New FTX Filing Pulls Back the Curtain on Sam Bankman-Fried’s Massive Influence Peddling Operation"

From The Intercept, January 30:

A bankruptcy filing revealed new information about how the crypto exchange spent money on consultants, think tanks, and business relationships.

A filing in FTX’s bankruptcy proceedings is shedding light on the true extent of the crypto-trading powerhouse’s influence peddling operation. Last week, FTX filed its creditor matrix, a document that lists former vendors and investors to the company.

The list includes nearly a dozen public relations experts — specialists who generate positive spin in the media on behalf of clients — as well as political consultants, think tanks, and trade groups.

Sometimes, the money went directly to political operations; Majority Forward, a dark-money group designed to elect Senate Democrats, received cash. In some cases, the hired guns, such as PR firms, were paid directly for their services. In others, the groups that received donations maintain that they are independent, but had interests aligned with FTX.

The filing, for instance, listed a donation to the Center for a New American Security, a prominent national security-focused think tank in Washington, D.C., that has worked to shape crypto regulations.

he filing offered a look under the hood of FTX’s intricate maze of influence. On the heels of its meteoric rise as a crypto exchange, FTX quickly began to spend extraordinary amounts of money to buy prestige and friends in high places. Now that the firm stands accused of siphoning off billions of its investors’ dollars — with its disgraced founder Sam Bankman-Fried charged with fraud in the matter — increased scrutiny is falling on powerbrokers’ dealings with FTX....

....MUCH MORE

And at the Huffington Post:

Federal Prosecutors Accuse FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried Of Witness Tampering

The prosecution and the court sure are treating him with kid gloves. Most people would have their bail revoked for sending encrypted messages to witnesses.

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