Beto O’Rourke keeps $100,000 in tainted crypto cash

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Texas Democrat Took $1 Million From Disgraced Crypto King Sam Bankman-Fried

Sam Bankman-Fried and Beto O’Rourke

Beto O’Rourke claims he made a $1 million campaign contribution to Sam Bankman-Fried before the crypto kingpin’s meteoric collapse in November. But campaign records show O’Rourke keeping $100,000 of that donation, raising questions about the failed Democratic Texas gubernatorial nominee’s claims.

A spokesperson for O’Rourke said in November that the campaign had returned an “unsolicited” $1 million donation that Bankman-Fried had made on October 11. money, O’Rourke’s spokesman, Chris Evans, said the repayment was made on Nov. 4, before the election and “before any news that would be released later on the donor.”

But O’Rourke’s latest campaign brief contradicts those assurances. In a report last week, the campaign disclosed a $900,000 refund to Bankman-Fried on November 4. The campaign said it was holding the remaining $100,000 pending the outcome of the investigation into Bankman-Fried, who was charged with campaign finance. violations and fraud related to his cryptocurrency company, FTX.

The O’Rourke campaign said it would put the money into a fund for “victims of the FTX collapse”. It is unclear why the campaign only earmarked part of the donation for the victims. And the pledge contradicts the campaign’s initial claim that it received and returned Bankman-Fried’s donation before news of his wrongdoing broke. FTX declared bankruptcy on November 11.

But an extra $100,000 on the books would come in handy for O’Rourke, whose campaign has just $212,356 in cash. It is unclear if O’Rourke plans to run for office in the future. He lost by 11 points this year to Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R.). He lost a 2018 Senate race to Sen. Ted Cruz (R.) and dropped out of the 2020 Democratic presidential race two months before the first primary.

The O’Rourke and Evans campaign did not respond to requests for information about these inconsistencies.

Bankman-Fried gave $40 million in the 2022 cycle, largely to Democrats. The 30-year-old entrepreneur paid more than $300,000 to Democratic members of the House Financial Services Committee, which oversees the cryptocurrency industry. He contributed $5 million to a PAC supporting Joe Biden in 2020 and said last year he could contribute up to $1 billion to support Democrats in the 2022 election cycle.

Bankman-Fried’s generosity earned him access to Washington. He visited the White House several times last year, alongside an FTX lobbyist, the Washington Free Beacon reported.

Other lawmakers and political action committees have said they will return Bankman-Fried’s donations.

O’Rourke’s campaign has not pledged to return a $100,000 contribution from FTX executive Nishad Singh. Singh, who has given millions of dollars to other Democrats, is said to have been cooperating with federal prosecutors in their investigation of Bankman-Fried.

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