Even More FTX $$$$ in NC: Cui Bono?
Who benefits?
I want to start off with a hearty welcome to the fray for young Colon Campbell, formerly of The N&O’s men’s room beat and now the editor of something called The NC Tribune. He is the FIRST Tar Heel State driveby to get away from “grilling” establishment pols about BBQ, kittens and puppies and start doing REAL JOURNALISM:
[…]Two cryptocurrency executives who led a company that filed for bankruptcy this week were among the biggest political donors in North Carolina this year.
FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and fellow company executive Ryan Salame spent more than $2.7 million, mostly in the primary, to influence the outcomes of North Carolina elections.
The biggest beneficiary was U.S. Rep.-elect Valerie Foushee. A PAC funded almost entirely by Bankman-Fried spent $1.04 million in the primary on ads aimed at helping Foushee win her race against Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam and former American Idol contestant Clay Aiken.
A PAC funded entirely by Salame called American Dream Federal Action spent $517,000 on ads boosting U.S. Sen.-elect Ted Budd in the primary and another $517,000 to help Republican congressional candidate Bo Hines in his primary. […]
Thom Tillis got $700,000 from Salame in his Results for NC PAC. The PAC spent about $1.7 million in the 11th congressional district May primary to damage Madison Cawthorn and help Chuck Edwards.
And $517,000 for Ted Budd? THIS is not a very good start. I had high hopes for young Mr. Budd.
*I suppose it’s just a coincidence that Budd serves on The House Financial Services Committee — which oversees banks and cryptocurrency exchanges (like FTX).*
*I suppose it was also a coincidence that Budd was pushing for relaxed cryptocurrency regulations in August — just MONTHS before the primary.*
FTX sounds like a crowd that needed a lot more regulation and oversight. Not LESS.
For what it’s worth, FTX got blasted by the guy trying to bail them out of their financial mess for basically having NO checks and balances on company finances / money-handling. This guy said he still hasn’t found a list of ALL FTX corporate bank accounts.
The lawyers are already lining up for the class-action lawsuits.
FTX, as we’ve told you, has declared bankruptcy and is under investigation by The Securities and Exchange Commission AND US Department of Justice. Apparently, the folks at FTX “misplaced” about TWO BILLION DOLLARS in customer funds. (*I wonder where it all could have gone?*)
*Likewise, I’m sure it was also just a coincidence that Tillis serves on the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs committee which, of course, oversees the banking industry AND cryptocurrency.*
Stay tuned, folks. Methinks this is about to get stickier and stickier and A LOT more uncomfortable for some folks before it’s all done.
Look at 2021 as well. Bankman-Fried contributed $5,800 to Richard Burr who was RETIRING! Five other RINO’s in the Senate also got FTX’s dirty money from Bankman-Fried last year, $5,800 each to Mitt Romney, Lisa Murkowski, Bill Cassidy, Ben Sasse, and Susan Collins. Of the six, only Murkowski had an election this year, and it was fairly well known that Sasse and Cassidy are not running again.
Sad to see that Ted Budd has already been bought off. Just another DC politician like Burr and Tillis who has sold his soul. How much more of this can faithful NC Republicans take before we just quit voting altogether.
Crypto and Budd’s attitudes in that direction might not be a straightforward subject. This isn’t to defend Budd but given the original libertarian hopes for crypto as an anti-government surveillance, pro-privacy tool (misplaced hopes in hindsight), Budd may have been just voicing a conservative viewpoint against regulation. But the bigger issue is that cryptos may simply be a Trojan Horse for the introduction of Central bank digital currencies, which is already getting a trial run by the Fed, and which would more effectively enslave us than even gun confiscation and the outright suspension of the Constitution.
I LOATHE the NCGOP and GOP. Absolutely LOATHE.
But, at the end of the day, FTX was a money laundering operation for the Democrats. If some GOP are brought down in this scandal (Tillis and McCarthy would be glorious), so be it. But the real players, the Democrats, need to be completely revealed, held accountable and destroyed (wishful thinking). Don’t get distracted.
https://unusualwhales.com/news/osh-hawley-has-sent-a-broad-request-for-correspondence-between-federal-agencies-and-democrats-including-the-biden-administration-and-senate-democrats-campaign-committees-regarding-bankr
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a Senator like Josh Hawley for NC instead of Thom Tillis. We are stuck with the worst of the worst.
Overall, FTX was a major Democratic money laundering operation. Of course, it was covered up until after the election–sort of like Hunter Biden’s laptop. Nonetheless, Burr, Tillis, and Budd managed to get their share of the stolen money. And Burr wasn’t even running for re-election! Think back for a moment in NC politics–could you imagine Jesse Helms or John East doing something like this? Of course not. How far have we fallen with the likes of Burr, Tillis, and now (disappointingly) Budd.
Tillis has brought utter shame to the Helms’s seat! Jesse Helms is rolling over in his grave!
Tillis is nowhere near the statesman that Helms was.
Tillis abandoned his conservative principles long ago — voting with Dems on infrastructure, co-sponsoring the gay marriage act and get ready for the amnesty legislation he & Dick Durbin have been working on to hit the floor! Just add this dirty money ($700k of it) to the long list.
The NCGOP and every county should censure!
If memory serves, someone in the Onslow county GOP tried that, and Whatley’s wussies in Raleigh had a meltdown about it.
if true, this is quite something
https://theamericanreport.org/2022/11/19/china-pay-day-ftx-early-investor-binance-linked-to-ccp-klaus-schwabs-wef-un-sounds-like-a-pump-and-dump-for-dems-and-ccp/
Thom Tillis has NEVER been a conservative. His own statement on how he got into politics was running for his town council to push for bike paths (that was also a big issue for Marc Basnight BTW), not exactly a conservative issue. Tillis’ next move was to be recruited by RINO and Democrat collaborator Richard Morgan (who was himself tossed out of the GOP for party disloyalty by overwhelming vote of the NCGOP ExCom) to be the RINO challenger to one of the most outspoken conservative leaders in the NC House. Heavy funding provided by Morgan bought that race for Tillis.
Thom Tillis has been bad news since the first day he appeared in politics. The watchword for conservatives needs to be “NEVER TILLIS”.
Tillis and Burr are perpetual embarrassments to North Carolina. In my opinion, Burr went off the deep end several years ago, but Tillis started off the at deep end. Too bad for Conservative North Carolinians he did not drown, but continues to be a born again Democrat. He ranks right along with Murkowski, Collins, Romney and the other absolute RINOS. His most recent election which puts him in office until 2026 has been the worst yet.
Come on conservatives, there is something stinky going on with the gang that controls the NC gOP. Please, there are several of you who regularly contribute to comments on this column. You have excellent comments that make really good sense. Can’t you get together and let’s get rid of those (NCGOP) folks who are running things who have become yes people for the Dems.
Thank you sirs and ladies who are listening up and keeping score.