“When Justice Department prosecutors unsealed an indictment against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried on Tuesday morning, they revealed an array of serious charges against the crypto boy-king for billions of dollars in high-profile financial crimes, but the very last count opens a new mystery—an enigmatic straw donor scheme to violate federal campaign finance laws,” the Daily Beast reports.

Said U.S. Attorney Damian William: “All of this dirty money was used in service of Bankman-Fried’s desire to buy bipartisan influence and impact the direction of public policy in Washington.”

“A member of George Santos’ political team had a plan to raise money for the Republican congressman’s campaign: Impersonate the chief of staff of now House Speaker Kevin McCarthy,” CNBC reports.

“Wealthy donors received calls and emails from a man who said he was Dan Meyer, McCarthy’s chief of staff, during the 2020 and 2022 election cycles… His name was actually Sam Miele, and he worked for Santos raising money for his campaign.”

“The impersonation of the top House Republican’s chief of staff adds to an emerging picture of a winning congressional campaign propelled by fabrications and questionable tactics. Santos now finds himself in the sights of investigators and in danger of losing his political career even after he’s been sworn into office. In raising money for his campaign, Santos fed donors the same falsehoods he gave voters.”

“The Federal Election Commission has flagged issues with contributions made to embattled Rep.-elect George Santos’ campaign,” CNN reports.

“The commission has requested clarification and more information on certain donors and about apparent excessive contributions to Santos’ winning 2022 campaign for his Long Island seat.”

Theodore Schleifer: “Among the many lingering mysteries of the Bankman-Fried saga is how exactly these effective altruist, S.B.F.-employed operatives were spending so much money on Democratic politics in the first place. Sure, operatives can stack their income with consulting work, but enough to donate $100,000-plus in one campaign cycle? That is indeed peculiar.”

“But, as several friends of the people in question have noted, effective altruists are, well, peculiar. They donate more money to charity than average people, and they donate more money to aligned politicians too. Like lobbyists, they are also professionally in the business of cultivating relationships. So if an effective-altruist operative was making $400,000 a year in salary as a strategist (for S.B.F. and other clients), could they set aside, say, 25 percent of that money for political donations?”

Meanwhile, Rolling Stone notes Democrats are scouring their books for donations linked to Bankman-Fried.

“Federal prosecutors accused FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who made nearly $40 million in political contributions in the 2022 election cycle, with violating multiple campaign finance laws,” CNBC reports.

“The indictment says Bankman-Fried and others violated numerous federal campaign finance laws, including giving contributions ‘in the names of other persons.'”

Bloomberg: “While there’s precedent for forcing political entities to return contributions in cases of fraud, recovery prospects are unclear in FTX’s case.”

“Recouping campaign funds as part of the bankruptcy proceedings is a complicated and lengthy process, and the scope of the total funds eligible for clawback depends on myriad federal and state laws.”

“Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), a leading Republican fundraiser who has worked to build a national political profile, has been hit with a hefty fine for violating federal campaign finance rules,” the Daily Beast reports.

“On Friday, officials at the Federal Election Commission disclosed they had fined Crenshaw’s campaign committee $42,000, after the campaign failed to properly return more than $220,000 in illegal campaign contributions.”

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, revealed in a new interview that he donated “about the same amount of money” to both Democrats and Republicans, but that all his donations to Republicans was “dark money,” Semafor reports.

Bankman-Fried explained that he didn’t disclose the donations because “liberal” reporters would “freak the fuck out.”

He added: “I’ve been their third biggest Republican donor this year as well.”

And here’s the kicker: Bankman-Fried is also an investor in Semafor.

“One of the biggest conservative dark money organizations in the nation was boosted last year by two separate anonymous gifts, each totaling more than $425 million dollars,” Politico reports.

“The money sent to DonorsTrust, a 501(c)(3) charity that has become one of the most influential conduit of funds in Republican-leaning circles, was a huge chunk of the more than $1 billion the group brought in in 2021… They are among the largest ever donations to a politically-connected group.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) “has millions at his disposal, yet his campaign has not returned $213,000 in contributions from a fugitive charged with making illegal straw donations,” the Miami Herald reports.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) received $555,000 from his campaign account two months ago to cover old personal loans, Insider reports.

It comes after Cruz successfully challenged a law that capped the amount candidates could repay themselves.