A White House spokesperson has declined a response to reporters after one asked whether United States president Joe Biden would return former FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried’s $5.2 million in campaign funds.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre avoided answering questions from Associated Press reporter Zeke Miller in a 13 December presser, with the latter asking “Will the president return that donation?”
Miller continued: “Does he call on all politicians who got campaign donations that may have come from customer money to return those funds?”
Responding, Jean-Pierre said: “I’m covered here by the Hatch Act [and am] limited on what I can say […] Anything that’s connected to political contributions, from here I would have to refer you to the DNC (Democratic National Committee).”
Jean-Pierre’s comments refer to the Hatch Act, which bans executive branch employees from joining political campaigns.
The exchange continued, with Miller hitting back, stating: “I’m asking the President’s opinion though.”
Jean-Pierre responded, stating: “I just can’t talk to political contributions or anything related to that I cannot speak about it from here […] even his opinion, even his thoughts about the contributions, donations — I cannot speak […] about that from here.”
The Unravelling of FTX
The comments come after Bahamian authorities arrested the ex-FTX executive for mishandling funds and committing fraud. Additional penalties include breaking campaign finance laws, contribution breaches, contributing funds in others’ names, and obstructing the Federal Election Commission’s duties.
According to figures from the campaign contributions website Open Secrets, he contributed $5.2 million in donations, just second to Michael Bloomberg’s $56 million. He also donated $36.8 million to candidates of the Democratic Party for its 2022 midterm election cycle.
Authorities may force donor recipients to return the funding, totalling up to $73 million, after FTX, research wing Alameda Research, and 130 affiliated companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on 11 November. Multiple politicians have passed the donations to other charities to avoid association with FTX.
