Waters: FTX Donations ‘May Have Been’ Attempts to Influence, ‘You Cannot Object’ if They’re Legal and We ‘Deal with That’ as Regulators

On Thursday’s broadcast of CNBC’s “Closing Bell,” House Financial Services Committee Chair Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) denied that there was a failure to provide oversight and regulation of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX because of his campaign donations and said that “those contributions may have been done in an attempt to influence. But of course, we have to deal with that as regulators and as members of Congress with the responsibility for oversight.” And that if people follow laws governing campaign donations, “then you cannot object to the fact that they give contributions and they followed the law in the way that they give them.”

Host Sara Eisen asked, “What do you say to the cynics that are looking at all those campaign contributions that he made, including many to Democrats, 40 million in the midterms, which made it the Democrats’ second-largest donor, and wonder if there wasn’t oversight and regulation of him and his firm because he was such an important donor to your party?”

Waters responded, “No. What we understand about the election systems in this country is there are rules to giving donations, and when one follows those rules, then you cannot object to the fact that they give contributions and they followed the law in the way that they give them. But, as I understand it, without the investigation having gone on, that there were contributions made to Democrats and Republicans, and certainly, those contributions may have been done in an attempt to influence. But of course, we have to deal with that as regulators and as members of Congress with the responsibility for oversight. And so, we will be a part of what is going on with these hearings and investigations and we will do everything that we can to expose any violations that were obviously made.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett