White House Silent On Returning $5.2M In Donations From SBF

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, declined to answer a reporter’s question about whether US President Joe Biden will return the $5.2 million in campaign donations previously given by FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

“Will the president return that donation?” Associated Press reporter Zeke Miller asked in a Dec. 13 press briefing, “does he call on all politicians who got campaign donations that may have come from customer money to return those funds?”

“I’m covered here by the Hatch Act,” Jean-Pierre responded, adding she was “limited on what I can say.”

”Anything that’s connected to political contributions, from here I would have to refer you to the DNC,” she said in reference to the Democratic National Committee. The governing body of the U.S. Democratic Party of which Biden is a member.

The Hatch Act is a federal law that prohibits members of the executive branch from participating in political campaign activities.

“I’m asking the president’s opinion though,” Miller pressed. Jean-Pierre repeated that she was “covered by the Hatch Act,” adding:

“I just can’t talk to political contributions or anything related to that I cannot speak about it from here.”

Miller again pushed for Jean-Pierre’s response on Biden’s opinion which she said she couldn’t speak about “even his opinion, even his thoughts about the contributions, donations — I cannot speak […] about that from here.”

On December 13, Bankman-Fried was charged with violating campaign finance laws, including violations of contribution laws and obstructing the functions of the Federal Election Commission, as well as making contributions in the name of others.

With his $5.2 million in donations, he was the second-largest “CEO-contributor” to Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, trailing only media mogul Michael Bloomberg’s $56 million.

In the 2022 midterm elections, the FTX founder was the second-largest Democratic party contributor in the cycle, funneling $36.8 million to its candidates.

Bankman-Fried sent just over $240,000 to Republicans during the midterm elections, according to public records, but he admitted to dark money donations in a Nov.16 interview with cryptocurrency vlogger Tiffany Fong, saying he “donated about the same to both parties.”

Politicians who received political donations from Sam Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives may be forced to return the contributions to the bankruptcy trustee in any case, due to the bankruptcy proceedings.

iexclusivenews understands that according to a previous report from Cointelegraph, up to $73 million in political donations from FTX employees may be recalled to repay the failed exchange’s creditors.

Some politicians have already resorted to donating money to charities in order to distance themselves from the company and its donations.