Sam Bankman- Fried, the former CEO of FTX, is losing advocates in Washington.
Lobbyists who worked for both FTX and Guarding Against Pandemics, a nonprofit partially funded by Bankman-Fried and run by his brother, told CNBC that they have severed ties with thecryptocurrencies exchange after it collapsed. Last week, FTX announced that it was filing for Chapter 11 and that Bankman- Fried was stepping down as CEO.
Washington lawmakers, including the Biden White House, are taking a closer look at the company and the industry in general. The move by some in Washington to distance themselves from FTX followed a larger push by the company and key executives to ingratiate themselves with policymakers.
According to data from OpenSecrets, Bankman- Fried gave more than $38 million to candidates and committees in the upcoming elections. The co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets gave more than $23 million during the election.
Many of FTX's attempts to gain a toehold in Washington seem to be in a state of disrepair. An aide for the No. 2 Senate Democrat told CNBC on Monday that the donation will be donated to an appropriate charity.
According to a person familiar with the matter, Eliora is no longer employed by FTX. It's not clear when she left or if she was fired. In-house lobbying by FTX cost the company $540,000 in the second and third quarters. The lobbying disclosure for the third quarter includes July through September.
The people in this story did not want to speak about their private matters. An email went back and forth.
The Conaway Graves Group, run by ex-GOP Rep. Mike Conaway of Texas and his former chief of staff Scott Graves, stopped working for FTX last week as the company neared its bankruptcy announcement.
Graves said in an email that they will not represent FTX in any capacity moving forward.
The trade groups no longer represent FTX. A person briefed on the matter says the Chamber of Progress is no longer working with FTX.
FTX has been removed from the website of the Association for Digital Assets Markets. Bond ran a failed campaign for a New York House seat.
FTX and FTX US joined the group's board of directors. Ryne Miller, FTX US' general counsel, and Mark Wetjen, the company's head of policy and regulatory strategy, were once listed on the group's board.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission was chaired by Wetjen. The spokesman for the trade group said that FTX.com and FTX.US were removed from membership. The removal came from fraudulent behavior by FTX.
FTX quit from the council for innovation, according to the report.
The health nonprofit is partially bankrolled by Bankman-Fried and run by his brother.
The Ridge Policy Group was one of the lobbyists for Guarding Against Pandemics. Tom Ridge is the leader of the lobbying group.
The firm no longer represents Guarding Against Pandemics according to the chief administrative officer. Sherman didn't say when that decision was made.
The announcement came after the nonprofit distanced itself from Bankman-Friend.
Guarding Against Pandemics had wiped its website's "about" section. Bankman-Fried was listed as a founder and director in the "about" section of the internet archive. Repeated requests for comment were not returned by the organization.
The nonprofit lost a lobbying firm before FTX. In an interview with CNBC, Gordon Taylor said that his firm's contract with Guarding Against Pandemics was not renewed.
It's not clear why the contract wasn't renewed.
Mary Catherine Wellons worked for CNBC.
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