How Much Political Power Did SBF's Millions Buy?

Molding crypto regulation, one donation at a time.

- GABRIEL DEBENEDETTI

JUST ABOUT EVERYONE I rang in D.C. this week started the call by insisting that no, actually, they didn’t know the guy. Sam Bankman-who?

This was surprising. SBF was the town’s buzziest megadonor. He’d given tens of millions to federal candidates and groups; Politico had called him an “aspiring Washington kingmaker.” So I pressed a little on the members of Congress, highpowered operatives, fundraisers, etc., whom I was speaking with. Okay, most admitted, they’d talked—but never in person. Prodded just a bit further, that usually turned into: Sure, yes, they’d met, but not one-on-one.

The politicians—mostly, but not exclusively, Democrats—who have taken Bankman-Fried’s money are feeling embarrassed right now, and many are trying to wash their hands of it. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said she would hand off her share to a charity, as did Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, as did Illinois representative Chuy García, as did Republicans like Oklahoma representative Kevin Hern.