According to fascinating little detail from the new Michael Lewis biography on Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced FTX founder reportedly tried to broker a deal to stop Donald Trump from running for president again by paying him a hefty sum of $5 billion deal.
Obviously, this alleged offer was being kicked around before the infamous collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange that led to Bankman-Fried being indicted for fraud. However, while promoting the new book on 60 Minutes, Lewis revealed that it’s not entirely clear on whether or not Trump was aware the deal, or more importantly, open to the offer.
You can see the bombshell moment below:
Michael Lewis reports that Sam Bankman-Fried considered paying Donald Trump not to run for president. He even got a number: $5 billion, but never learned if it was a serious figure that came from Trump himself. https://t.co/WtGO1TPP4A pic.twitter.com/WeKCNByiTk
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 1, 2023
Via New York Post:
Lewis said during a “60 Minutes” interview on Sunday that the “number that was kicking around when I was talking to Sam about this was $5 billion,” adding, “Sam wasn’t sure that number came directly from Trump.”
Likewise, it wasn’t immediately clear if whether 45th president was even willing to negotiate with Bankman-Fried, who is slated to go on trial Tuesday in Manhattan federal court on epic fraud charges.
According to Lewis, Bankman-Fried did have some doubts about whether or not paying a politician not to run for office is legal. That did not stop him from still having those conversations right up until the point when FTX “blew up.”
Trump’s team did not respond to the Post‘s request for comment, but given the mounting legal problems facing the former president, we doubt he’s in a rush to admit he was open to a $5 billion bribe.
You can watch the full 60 Minutes interview with Lewis below:
(Via New York Post)