Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried once looked into paying Donald Trump not to run for United States president, according to Michael Lewis, the author of a new book documenting the rise and fall of SBF.
Michael Lewis, author of “Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon,” spoke about the former crypto billionaire and FTX founder in a 60 Minutesinterview on Oct. 1.
One of the revelations in the book is that SBF looked into paying Donald Trump not to run for president. “That only shocks you if you don’t know Sam,” said Lewis before adding:
“Sam’s thinking that we could pay Donald Trump not to run for president […] like how much would it take?”
“The number that was kicking around was $5 billion,” he added before saying that SBF was unsure if that number came directly from Donald Trump.
SBF was also looking into the legality of it, according to Lewis, who added that “they were still having these conversations when FTX blew up.”
It just didn’t happen because Bankman-Fried didn’t have the $5 billion any longer, he added.
According to Lewis, SBF saw Trump as trying to undermine democracy in the United States, thinking he “belongs on the list of existential risks.”
Lewis spent more than 70 days in the Bahamas on a dozen different trips to visit SBF in 2022 and the pair became close. “I would stay in spare bedrooms, so I had codes to every room including the penthouse,” he told the WSJ.
Speaking on the fallout following the collapse of FTX in November 2022, he said:
“It was like the aftermath of Pompeii. Clothes and belongings left behind, frozen in time. Many headed to the airport leaving company cars with the keys inside at the curb.”
Cointelegraph contacted legal representatives for Sam Bankman-Fried and Donald Trump. Mark Botnik, who handles communications for the SBF case, said there was no comment from his legal team.
According to the trial schedule calendar released last week, the high-profile Sam Bankman-Fried trial begins on Oct. 3 with jury selection. The trial begins on Oct. 4.
The trial will involve seven fraud cases against SBF, two substantive charges where the prosecution must convince the jury that Bankman-Fried committed the crime, and five other conspiracy charges.
New laws to reduce the use of short prison sentences and toughen up community punishments are expected to be introduced within weeks.
Ministers are expected to introduce the new legislation to the Commons after the summer recess.
The changes will abolish most short-term prison sentences and introduce an earned release scheme, based on a model used in Texas, where prisoners who demonstrate good behaviour can be freed earlier – while those who disobey prison rules are detained for longer.
This will include some prisoners jailed for violent offences, although those convicted of the most dangerous crimes and for terrorism will be excluded.
Image: Shabana Mahmood (left) was said to be impressed by the system in place in Texan prisons. Pic: PA
The new bill will introduce many of the changes recommended by the independent sentencing review, carried out by former Conservative justice minister David Gauke earlier this year. It represents one of the largest overhauls of sentencing in a generation and marks a cornerstone of the government’s effort to reduce the size of the prison population in England and Wales.
As well as reducing the use of short custodial sentences, the changes will also toughen up community sentences, introducing a wider range of punishments for those serving time outside of prison. This could include bans on going to stadiums to watch sports or music events, as well as restrictions on visiting pubs, and the wider use of drug testing.
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Becky Johnson speaks with Daniel, a former convict, who was released early after prisons reached capacity.
Other punishments could include driving and travel bans, as well as restriction zones – confining them to certain areas. Some of these can already be imposed for certain crimes, but the new laws will mean that these could be handed down by a judge for any offence.
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Under the legislation, which it is understood will be introduced in September, prison sentences of 12 months or less will be scrapped, except for in exceptional circumstances such as domestic abuse cases. Meanwhile, the length of suspended sentences – where an offender is not sent to prison immediately unless they commit a further crime – will be extended from two years to three.
The justice secretary is believed to have been inspired by the earned release scheme during a visit to the States, where she learned about the model being used in Texas to cut crime and bring their prison population under control.
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England is on course to run out of prison places for adult men by November, the Justice Secretary has warned.
Shabana Mahmood said that criminals who break the rules “must be punished” and that those serving their sentences in the community “must have their freedom restricted there, too”.
She added: “Rightly, the public expect the government to do everything in its power to keep Britain safe, and that’s what we’re doing.”
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice added: “This government inherited a prison system days away from collapse.
“That is why we are building 14,000 more prison places, with 2,500 already delivered, but we know we can’t build our way out of this crisis.
“Without further action, we will run out of prison places in months, courts would halt trials and the police [would] cancel arrests. That is why we are overhauling sentencing to make sure we always have the prison places needed to keep the country safe.”