Ryan Salame, the former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, claimed that the U.S. government has unfairly targeted him due to his support for the Republican Party.
Salame made these statements during an appearance on The Tucker Carlson Show on October 10, a day after requesting a judge delay his self-surrender date by two months for medical reasons.
In his interview, Salame argued that he was unjustly charged with “campaign finance violations” for his donations to the Republican Party. He pointed out that other FTX executives, including former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who “helped get Biden elected,” were not charged with similar violations.
“Correct me if I’m wrong here. You have Sam Bankman-Fried, who’s in prison for a long time, but he’s not been charged with any campaign finance violations. He gave it to Democrats,” Salame said.
Although Salame has not been charged in connection with FTX’s collapse, he faces charges related to campaign finance violations after borrowing money from Alameda Research to make political contributions. Salame stated that he donated between $20 million and $30 million to Republican candidates.
Salame claimed his legal team had assured him that the borrowed funds were legal, but he was later accused of orchestrating a straw donor scheme, using company money to make contributions in others’ names.
He also questioned a second charge, which accused him of operating without a money-transmitting license.
Salame noted that Bankman-Fried had donated between $60 million and $70 million to Democratic candidates in the 2020 election but has not faced similar campaign finance charges.
Salame further alleged that federal prosecutors pressured him to plead guilty by threatening to investigate his child’s mother. He said, “They told me that if I pled guilty to these two crimes, they would not pursue my loved ones and look at anything that they had done or investigate them.”
He claimed that despite his plea deal, the government continued to pursue his family, breaking their agreement. Salame now plans to use this in an appeal, stating, “Because the government has now continued to pursue the mother of my child, despite saying that they wouldn’t if I pled guilty.”
Salame emphasized that none of Bankman-Fried’s family members have faced legal consequences and claimed the U.S. justice system prioritizes convictions over truth.
He has already spent about $6 million on legal fees.
On October 9, former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison agreed to settle her case with FTX by turning over “substantially all of her assets,” according to court documents filed earlier that month.
