Bankman-Fried Files Pardon Request

Is this righting the mistakes of a broken legal system or is this an undeserving request?

Published JUN 8

Story

Above: Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried on New York City on August 11, 2023. Image credit: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

The Facts

Sam Bankman-Fried, the co-founder of the collapsed crypto exchange FTX, has formally submitted a pardon application to the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of the Pardon Attorney. The case is listed as pending, and the filing was reportedly submitted this year.
CoinDesk
CNBC
Bankman-Fried is serving a 25-year federal prison sentence after being convicted in 2023 on seven fraud and conspiracy charges for diverting billions in customer funds from FTX to affiliated trading firm Alameda Research. His projected release date is June 17, 2044.
The Washington Examiner
Crypto.News
The application is listed as a "pardon after completion of sentence," which would restore certain civil liberties after Bankman-Fried serves his term but would not shorten it. He has separately filed an appeal of his conviction with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
BBC News
CNN
Previously, U.S. President Donald Trump told The New York Times in January that he had no intention of pardoning Bankman-Fried. A White House spokesperson declined to comment on the renewed application.
Forbes
Politico
In a Fox Business interview published Monday, Bankman-Fried said that he "absolutely" wants a pardon, adding it would be "ultimately up to the president." He declined to say whether family members or associates had contacted the White House on his behalf.
FOX News
Trump has issued more than 1,400 pardons and commutations in his second term, including clemency for Binance founder Changpeng Zhao and BitMEX co-founders Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo and Samuel Reed, all of whom faced charges related to anti-money-laundering violations.
TechCrunch
CNBC

Sources Split

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CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

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PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

A pardon for Bankman-Fried would be appropriate. He was railroaded and FTX customers got paid back in full, with interest. The trial judge blocked key expert testimony on the terms of service that explicitly authorized the lending arrangements at the heart of the prosecution's case. Sending a first-time, nonviolent offender to prison for 25 years while the bankruptcy lawyers walked away with $2 billion was a grotesque miscarriage of justice.

Forbes

The Untold Story of Sam Bankman-Frie on Substack

Narrative B

Bankman-Fried pumped stolen customer funds into Democratic campaigns, becoming the second-largest individual donor to the party in the 2022 midterms — $27 million to one PAC alone. Americans are still living with the elected officials whose fraud was bought. A man who refuses to acknowledge any wrongdoing, even in private, has no business asking for a pardon and President Trump should not give him one.