Political World Reacts to Sam Bankman-Fried Arrest: Maybe Those 87,000 IRS Agents Should Look at Him

sam testifies
Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Hannah Knudsen

The fleet of 87,000 IRS agents should focus on Sam Bankman-Fried rather than small businesses and working class Americans, Rep. Mike Loychik (R-OH) said on Tuesday as other politicians reacted to the arrest of the disgraced former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

“Maybe those 87,000 new IRS agents should figure out what Sam Bankman-Fried was doing instead of shaking down working class Americans and small business owners,” Loychik remarked, referencing the fleet of new IRS agents created via the Inflation Reduction Act:

“Tomorrow, Sam Bankman-Fried was scheduled to testify in front of the House Financial Services Committee. @HouseGOP was ready to grill him six ways to Sunday. Now breaking tonight, SBF was just arrested! Why not allow him to 1st testify tomorrow and answer our many questions?” Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) inquired:

Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) put a sterling stamp of approval on Bankman-Fried’s arrest, concluding that he should be sent to prison if he committed fraud.

“I’ve long urged @TheJusticeDept to hold corporate executives personally accountable when their companies break the law.   Crypto executives who break the law are just like any other crooks. If Sam Bankman-Fried committed fraud, then federal prosecutors should send him to prison,” she said:

“SBF’s arrest was long overdue. Right now, my fellow Republicans and I are investigating the #FTX crisis. To prevent bad actors, @FinancialCmte must hold him accountable and ensure that this new and innovative space will not be abused,” Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) commented:

The Democrat mega-donor was slated to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday but was arrested beforehand, as confirmed by United States Attorney Damian Williams.

“Earlier this evening, Bahamian authorities arrested Samuel Bankman-Fried at the request of the U.S. Government, based on a sealed indictment filed by the SDNY,” Williams said.

“We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time,” he added:

Bankman-Fried has eight charges against him — from money laundering to conspiracy to commit fraud on the U.S. to violations of campaign finance law.

As Breitbart News reported:

The major democrat donor was under criminal investigation by U.S. and Bahamian authorities following the collapse last month of FTX, which filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11, when it ran out of money.

The charges are on top of charges announced earlier Tuesday by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which alleged Bankman-Fried defrauded investors and used proceeds from investors to buy real estate on behalf of himself and family.

Watch John Ray, the new CEO of FTX, testify before the committee here or below.

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