Officials with the White House have not yet deigned to issue a statement in the wake of a press conference this week as to whether or not President Joe Biden would give back the money which had been given to him and his campaign by the alleged fraudster and disgraced former FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.
The pointed question asked of White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was made in response to 30-year-old Bankman-Fried being taken into custody from his home in the Bahamas this past week due to being charged by a Manhattan federal grand jury of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to defraud the Federal Election Commission and commit campaign finance violations.
The New York Post issued a report which stated that back in October of 2020, Bankman-Fried issued a donation to the tune of $50,000 to the Biden Victory Fund and another $2,800 directly to Biden himself, as expressed to records from the Federal Election Commission.
“The President received campaign donations — campaign donations from him — and many prominent Democrats did,” stated one reporter when finally called on. “Will the President return that donation? Does he call on all politicians who got campaign donations that may have come from customer money to return those funds?”
“So, look, I am covered here by the Hatch Act,” exclaimed Jean-Pierre in a statement. “I’m limited on what I can say. And anything that’s connected to political contributions from here, I would have to refer you to the DNC.”
When pressed a large number of times about the opinion of Old Uncle Joe on the issue, Jean-Pierre outright sidestepped the question in its entirety.
“I — I just — just cannot speak to this from here,” she exclaimed as she sidestepped the questions. “Even his opinion, even his thoughts about the contributions, donations, I cannot speak from it — from — about that from here.”
WATCH:
Asked if Biden intends to return Sam Bankman-Fried's donations, Karine Jean-Pierre says she's covered under the Hatch Act. pic.twitter.com/AnvVowDIoX
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) December 13, 2022
