Lightfoot supporter questions donation of indicted crypto billionaires to Garcia

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A campaign surrogate for mayor Lori Lightfoot and one of her 10 challengers attempted on Tuesday to link apparent frontrunner Jesus Chuy Garcia to indicted cryptocurrency billionaire Samuel Bankman-Fried.

A day after the whimsical FTX co-founder was arrested in the Bahamas to face charges of orchestrating a scheme to defraud stock investors, Lightfoot supporter and state Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D- Chicago) questioned Bankman-Frieds’ motives for spending $151,420 direct from the couriers who introduced Garcia to voters in his newly remapped congressional district.

The contribution raised eyebrows for two main reasons. First, Garcia was running unopposed in the Democratic primary in a safe neighborhood where his little-known Republican opponent was not raising or spending money. And second, Garcia is a member of the US House Financial Services Committee, which regulates parts of the digital asset industry that include cryptocurrency.

A statement released by the Lightfoot campaign quoted Cassidy as saying the federal charges against Bankman-Fried raise serious questions about his campaign funding of Chuy Garcias to the tune of nearly $200,000.

What were Bankman-Frieds’ motives for spending so much money on Rep. Garcia’s re-election and what did Garcia promise in return, especially when he was running unopposed at the time? Cassidy was quoted as saying.

Voters deserve to know the facts when making important decisions about who they can trust. Unfortunately, it looks like Chuy Garcia will bring back the old Chicago way of doing politics and we can’t afford that at City Hall, Cassidy said.

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Lynn Sweet revealed Bankman-Fried’s contributions to the so-called independent Protect Our Future spending PAC in late June. At the time, Garcia told Sweet that Bankman-Fried had called him about a week and a half prior to discuss one of his issues, pandemic preparedness.

On Tuesday, Cassidy argued that the direct conversation raised troubling questions for Garcia, the apparent frontrunner in a recent opinion poll funded by Operating Engineers Local 150.

What was said in that conversation that made Mr. Bankman-Fried feel like Garcia was a worthwhile investment for him? Cassidy was quoted as saying.

Garcias campaign manager Gisel Aceves called Cassidys wide and a similar attack from mayoral challenger Kam Buckner deceptive and desperate attacks of floundering campaigns.

Congressman Garcia is and has always been a cryptocurrency skeptic and continues to advocate for stricter financial regulation on an industry he considers ripe for fraud and a significant threat to market stability. , Aceves said in a statement.

By definition, the congressman has not participated in any independent spending campaign. And he was one of the first members of Congress to donate a single $2,900 contribution from Bankman-Fried to charity.

She added that Congressman Garcia is ready to work with the people of Chicago to build a better future. It’s time for a mayor who brings us together instead of pulling us apart.

Lightfoot campaign spokeswoman Christina Freundlich was asked why the mayor chose to have a campaign surrogate attack Garcia instead of launching the offensive himself.

It’s just a decision we decided to make. I don’t really have an explanation for you. That’s why we have endorsers and supporters to help amplify our campaign message, Freundlich said.

I’m not saying the mayor will talk about it or not. But we decided to use a campaign substitute today. With the charges that have been filed [against Bankman-Fried], there will be more attention. And Kelly lays out pretty clearly our reasoning why questions are being raised about this.

Lightfoot owes his 2019 election to the corruption scandal still swirling around Ald, now indicted and soon to be retired. Edward Burke (14th).

On Tuesday, Freundlich said it was too early to tell whether Lightfoot could similarly carry the Bankman-Fried scandal through to his re-election.

With the history of Chicago politics and questions raised about where campaign donations come from, who he aligned himself with, and where he gets his money from, one wonders what kind of city hall he’s going to. lead, she said.

Buckner wondered how a self-proclaimed reformer like Garcia could accept special interest support from a crypto billionaire whose industry future rests with members of Congress?

Garcia is proving to be no different from a self-centered politician who is not cut out to run our city transparently, Buckner said in a statement.

Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday a day before he was scheduled to testify before this US House committee that includes Garcia. He faces charges ranging from wire, securities and commodity fraud on lenders and customers to conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States and violate laws on campaign finance.

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