Republicans slam DOJ for dropping campaign finance charges against major Democratic donor Sam Bankman-Fried: ‘So we won’t know which politicians he bribed?’

Critics accuse the DOJ of sweeping additional charges against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried under the rug after prosecutors said he would not face a second trial on campaign finance violations following his conviction last month.

In a letter filed Friday evening in federal court in Manhattan, prosecutors said the “strong public interest” in a speedy resolution of the case outweighed the benefits of a second trial.

In his letter to the court, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams noted that prosecutors presented evidence on all dropped charges during Bankman-Fried's first month-long trial, in which he was found guilty on all counts.

The additional, now dropped, charges include campaign finance violations and bribing foreign officials, which must still be cleared by officials in the Bahamas, according to the agreement that led to his extradition.

Some Republicans cried foul, noting that Bankman-Fried was a major donor to Democrats, including a reported $5.2 million infusion into President Joe Biden's 2020 campaign.

“So we won't know which politicians he bribed or whose campaigns he influenced? That collective sigh of relief you hear comes from the DEEP STATE,” Rep. tweeted. Tim Burchett, a Republican from Tennessee.

The move also sparked criticism from the cryptocurrency industry, including Paul Grewal, the chief legal officer of crypto exchange Coinbase.

“I think this is a miscarriage of justice. The public interest in a public airing of charges is almost always important. Campaign finance costs are at the very top of this list,” said Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal wrote on X.

“What politicians and others knew what and when are critical questions that deserve answers,” he added. “Dropping this on a Friday night before a holiday will only fuel public cynics about the politics of it all.”

Last month, jurors convicted Bankman-Fried, 31, of all seven counts of fraud and conspiracy he faced.

Prosecutors had accused him of looting $8 billion from his cryptocurrency exchange customers, using the money to buy lavish real estate in the Bahamas, finance risky trades and make huge political donations.

Bankman-Fried faced six additional charges dropped from his initial trial, including conspiracy to make illegal campaign contributions, conspiracy to bribe foreign officials and two other conspiracy charges.

The bribery charge related to allegations that Bankman-Fried made a $40 million cryptocurrency payout to Chinese officials so they would release his hedge fund accounts.

Evidence at the first trial showed that Bankman-Fried sent “straw donor” donations to U.S. political candidates using client money as he tried to influence regulations.

Bankman-Fried was known as a major donor to Democrats, but prosecutors say he also contributed to Republican campaigns as part of the alleged illegal donation scheme.

Bankman-Fried himself has claimed that he has donated almost as much to Republicans as Democrats, but said his GOP donations were funneled through “dark money” channels because he feared “super liberal” journalists “would panic if you donate'. to Republicans.”

According to a superseding indictment, Bankman-Fried “misappropriated and embezzled deposits of FTX customers,” including spending more than $100 million “in campaign contributions to Democrats and Republicans to attempt to influence the regulation of cryptocurrency.”

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams noted that prosecutors presented evidence on all of the dropped charges during Bankman-Fried's first trial, where he was found guilty on all counts.

Critics accuse the Justice Department of sweeping additional charges against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried under the rug

The indictment also alleged that Bankman-Fried concealed the source of campaign donations by identifying them in the names of several FTX executives, including former technical director Nishad Singh.

During the trial, Singh testified that Bankman-Fried directed money from his hedge fund Alameda Research to be used to make political donations, even after learning that the fund owed $13 billion to clients as of September 2022.

Singh said he continued to receive transfers from Alameda, allowing Bankman-Fried employees to use the money to donate to U.S. Democratic candidates and charities in what he called a “straw donor” program.

“There was a huge gap,” Singh said on the witness stand. “Alameda sent me money to spend… necessarily deepened that hole.”

Bankman-Fried had been extradited in December 2022 from the Bahamas, where FTX was based, to face the seven previous charges.

The Bahamas has yet to authorize a trial on the remaining charges, and there was no indication of a timetable for their decision, prosecutors said in the memo explaining the move not to seek a second trial.

Bankman-Fried's guilty verdict came nearly a year after FTX filed for bankruptcy, wiping out his once $26 billion personal fortune in one of the fastest collapses of a major player in U.S. financial markets.

Bankman-Fried faces decades in prison when he is sentenced by Judge Kaplan in Manhattan in March.

Prosecutors said much of the evidence that could be presented at a second trial had already been presented at the first trial.

They also said a second trial would not affect the time Bankman-Fried could spend in prison under recommended federal guidelines because Kaplan could consider all of Bankman-Fried's conduct in sentencing him for the offenses for which he was convicted.

Bankman-Fried is expected to appeal his conviction.