Good morning, it’s Jeff writing today’s Proof of State column for Leo, who is in Hawaii on a well-deserved break. As Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial continues in New York City, the denizens of another town are watching the events with barely concealed relief.
I’m referring to the crowd in Washington, D.C., where nearly 200 elected officials took campaign contributions from the alleged fraudster prior to the collapse of his FTX exchange a year ago. At the time, Bankman-Fried’s D.C. spending spree looked like a legitimate attempt to promote enlightened crypto policy. Today, it looks more like a blatant attempt to buy off the U.S. government for the benefit of his shady operation.
