FTX Founder Alleges Biden Administration Targeted Him Over GOP Donations and Crypto Bill Support

Highlights:

• FTX founder alleges that the SEC and DOJ worked together to stop his testimony on crypto regulation.
• Sam Bankman-Fried claims his arrest was political after he supported Republican candidates in 2022.
• The Congress is investigating the SEC after reports of deleted messages from Chair Gary Gensler’s phone.

Sam Bankman-Fried reignited political debate this week by claiming that his 2022 arrest was motivated by politics. The FTX co-founder said he faced retaliation after shifting his political donations toward Republicans. He posted the statement on the microblogging platform GETTR, describing how his political stance changed from center-left in 2020 to centrist in 2022. He claimed this shift followed what he viewed as aggressive enforcement actions from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) against the crypto industry.

BREAKING: 🚨 Sam Bankman-Fried joins GETTR, accuses Biden’s DOJ of WEAPONIZING Justice.

Fallen crypto mogul says the Biden Administration TURNED THE SYSTEM against him after calling out DEMS. pic.twitter.com/ZyYKbBE9UT

— E X X ➠A L E R T S (@ExxAlerts) October 14, 2025

Bankman-Fried wrote that he donated tens of millions of dollars to Republican candidates in 2022. He alleged that weeks after the donations, federal authorities targeted him. According to him, the arrest came just before a crypto bill he supported was due for a vote and one day before his scheduled testimony before Congress. He said the timing was deliberate and politically motivated.

At that time, several House Republicans questioned the arrest’s timing. They suggested that authorities acted to stop Bankman-Fried from testifying on crypto regulation. He reiterated those concerns, adding that his shift in political support coincided with growing hostility from the Biden administration toward the digital asset sector.

FTX Founder Alleges SEC and DOJ Coordinated Targeted Action Before His Testimony

In his GETTR post, Bankman-Fried accused regulators of coordinating his arrest to silence his policy influence. He argued that the SEC and DOJ acted together under political pressure from the White House. The former FTX chief linked his arrest to efforts by regulators to tighten control over the crypto industry. He claimed these actions aligned with what he called an “anti-crypto stance” within the administration.

He also revived previous allegations against SEC Chair Gary Gensler. Bankman-Fried said Gensler “conveniently lost” key communications that could have clarified the events leading to his prosecution. He tied this claim to an ongoing debate in Congress about transparency and accountability within the SEC. Lawmakers had earlier demanded that Gensler provide internal records about the timing of enforcement actions against FTX.

Bankman-Fried’s post came as several congressional committees continue to investigate the SEC’s enforcement policies. His claims add pressure on regulators already under scrutiny for their handling of crypto oversight. He maintained that his downfall was as much political as financial, describing his prosecution as selective and unfair.

Deleted SEC Messages Spark Congressional Scrutiny and Renew Transparency Concerns

Last month, the SEC’s Office of Inspector General confirmed that Gensler’s government-issued phone underwent an “enterprise wipe.” The watchdog said the phone stopped syncing for over two months before being marked inactive. That period overlapped with major enforcement actions against crypto firms, including Coinbase and Binance, as well as FTX’s collapse.

$MMTLP

SEC Loses Nearly a Year of Gary Gensler’s Texts Due to “Avoidable Errors” in Device Wipe

Look at the dates
October 18, 2022–September 6, 2023

These "avoidable errors" deleted almost a year's worth of text messages from former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler's government… pic.twitter.com/6ppTK4BKjp

— kristen shaughnessy (@kshaughnessy2) September 5, 2025

Coinbase has since claimed that the SEC has been deleting evidence and requesting penalties for the missing data. House republicans also investigated the deleted messages, citing failures in record-keeping and IT mismanagement.

Bankman-Fried remains in custody at FCI Terminal Island, serving a 25-year sentence for fraud and conspiracy. He continues to appeal his conviction and insists politics influenced his arrest. According to his posts, which were dictated to a friend via approved prison channels, it appears that he intends to continue to challenge the official version of his case.