White House plays down meetings with accused crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried

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On Tuesday, the White House ignored questions about meetings between senior administration officials and suspected crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried, saying the sessions focused on general information about the crypto industry.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the meetings focused on COVID-19 prevention linked to Mr. Bankman-Frieds’ foundation and generally discussed cryptocurrency exchanges.

The White House speaks regularly with officials from various sectors and industries, including leaders from business, labor and nonprofits, she told reporters. This meeting with Sam Bankman-Fried focused on pandemic prevention and related matters, including general information about cryptocurrency and crypto exchanges.

White House visitor logs released last week revealed Mr Bankman-Fried had met with White House adviser Steve Ricchetti on at least three occasions in 2022 and President Bidens’ deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed once Last year.

The disgraced founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX met Mr. Ricchetti as recently as September 8, according to visitor logs. Mr. Bankman-Fried’s younger brother, Gabriel, also attended a meeting on May 13.

Mr. Bankman-Fried is accused of defrauding investors of at least $1.8 billion. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan last month charged him with eight counts, including conspiracy to commit campaign finance violations.

He was a major Democratic donor before FTX collapsed, giving $50,000 to the Biden Victor Fund in October 2020 and another $2,800 directly to the Biden campaign the same month, according to Federal Election Commission records. He also spent an additional $10 million to support Mr. Bidens’ election through indirect donations.

Ms Jean-Pierre said the president had no opinion on whether politicians who accepted funds from Mr Bankman-Fried should return the money.

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