2 hours ago
A mailer from Think Big PAC told voters that the Democratic U.S. House campaigner erstwhile got $100,000 successful enactment from the erstwhile caput of failed planetary speech FTX.
Mar 20, 2026, 8:03 p.m.
A governmental enactment committee with ties to large tech and crypto donors is raising the specter of disgraced ex-FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to people New York legislature campaigner Alex Bores arsenic the authorities legislator faces a crowded Democratic field.
A sharply worded mailer distributed by Think Big PAC told voters that the Democratic superior campaigner for New York's 12th Congressional District erstwhile got much than $100,000 successful enactment from the erstwhile caput of the failed planetary exchange, and alleges that “Bankman-Fried’s buddies are bankrolling Bores for Congress.” It besides criticizes Bores’ run financing and positions him arsenic retired of measurement with constituents, urging voters to “do amended than Bores.”
The onslaught lands as Bores competes successful a high-profile primary that has drawn respective salient Democratic contenders, including Jack Schlossberg — a subordinate of the Kennedy household — and different well-connected figures specified arsenic George Conway. The contention to win Rep. Jerry Nadler successful the deep-blue Manhattan territory is expected to beryllium 1 of the astir intimately watched primaries successful the 2026 cycle.
“For idiosyncratic who’s railed against heavy fake AI, campaigner Bores doesn’t look to person occupation creating his ain reality. He raked successful implicit $100,000 from Sam-Bankman Fried’s sordid governmental web but refuses to admit the connection” a spokesperson for Think Big PAC told CoinDesk, which confirmed the amounts done authorities elections filings. "Bores is entitled to his ain sentiment but not his ain acceptable of facts connected the relation SBF has played successful bankrolling his governmental career."
Think Big PAC says it's backing candidates aligned with pro-technology policies and opposing those seen arsenic hostile to innovation of artificial intelligence. The radical has antecedently deployed spending to power Democratic primaries successful Ohio.
Bores, a first-term assemblymember representing parts of Manhattan, has precocious drawn attraction for introducing legislation focused connected artificial quality safety and accountability astatine the authorities level. The measure aims to enforce guardrails connected precocious AI systems, and that legislative propulsion whitethorn person made him a target.
The mailer zeroes successful connected governmental spending tied to Bankman-Fried, who was convicted connected fraud charges tied to the illness of FTX. In the 2022 cycle, Bankman-Fried and different FTX executives were among the largest governmental donors successful U.S. politics, supporting candidates crossed the governmental spectrum. A CoinDesk investigation recovered that 196 members of Congress — much than one-third — received run enactment from Bankman-Fried oregon affiliated executives during that period. But Bores was antithetic arsenic 1 of lone 2 state-level candidates successful New York to person assistance from the SBF-affiliated PAC (the different being Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado).
The Think Big PAC has already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars connected ads targeting Bores, including earlier tv and integer spots attacking his past enactment astatine Palantir. Bores’ run pushed backmost connected those ads, sending a cease-and-desist letter accusing the PAC of making “false and defamatory statements” successful its ads.
Bores’ run has not responded to CoinDesk’s petition for comment.
Read more: Congress' FTX Problem: 1 successful 3 Members Got Cash From Crypto Exchange's Bosses
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