Convicted crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried used to be a prolific donor to the Democratic Party, but these days his public statements have taken on a decidedly MAGA tone. “Clinton-appointed Judge Lewis Kaplan made his political bias very clear when sentencing me,” reads a recent screed on X. “I admire @realDonaldTrump for standing up to this ‘partisan and out of control activist’!”
This is just one of dozens of tweets railing about the deep state and other MAGA villains that Bankman-Fried, one of the century’s most notorious financial criminals, has published in recent weeks despite being locked up for 25 years in federal prison.
Though Bankman-Fried has not stated so explicitly, the goal of his social media spree is clear: persuade President Donald Trump to spring him from prison. The strategy makes sense given that Trump has been dispensing pardons to several high-profile figures convicted of financial crimes, including Binance founder and onetime Bankman-Fried archrival, Changpeng Zhao.
Alas for Bankman-Fried, his petitions to Trump for mercy appear to be in vain. In response to a request for comment about the recent social media campaign, a White House spokesperson reiterated to Fortune that Trump has no intention of pardoning Bankman-Fried.
In an email, the spokesperson referred Fortune to comments by Trump in January, where the president stated that he did not plan to pardon Bankman-Fried, along with a number of other prominent inmates including former New Jersey senator Robert Menendez and ousted Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. “The President is the ultimate decider on all pardons,” the spokesperson wrote.
An attorney for Bankman-Fried did not respond to a request for comment.
Unsuccessful bid
Bankman-Fried was a longtime supporter of progressive causes and is the son of two Stanford law professors who carried considerable influence in the upper echelons of the Democratic Party. But as his fraudulent crypto empire crumbled in November 2022, the crypto founder plotted a rightward shift. In a personal document released as part of the trial, Bankman-Fried wrote that he planned to go on conservative TV host Tucker Carlson’s program and “come out as a Republican.”
On the surface, the tactic seems plausible, especially in today’s political environment. Trump entered office in January 2025 pledging to roll back the Biden administration’s crackdown on crypto. Under Trump, regulatory agencies have dismissed key cases against blockchain companies, and the Justice Department has undergone a reorganization of its approach to crypto enforcement.
Still, Bankman-Fried’s reputation as one of the top Biden donors has limited his appeal to the Trump administration. That, combined with Bankman-Fried’s still villainous status in the crypto industry, has always made his campaign for a pardon a long shot, according to D.C. insiders. That’s even with an unsanctioned appearance on Tucker Carlson last year, which reportedly landed Bankman-Fried in solitary confinement.
The tough odds haven’t curbed Bankman-Fried’s perseverance, as he is also fighting his conviction in federal appeals court. His X feed is filled with posts, which have been amplified by what critics describe as “sock-puppet” accounts, touting his new conservative bona fides. (In his bio, Bankman-Fried clarifies that he tells a proxy what to write through Bureau of Prisons–approved phone calls and emails.)
“Dems like censoring ‘misinfo’ on social media,” reads one recent post, before praising Trump’s own platform. “Truth Social & GETTR have always put free speech first.”
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