
Caroline Ellison testified Tuesday in federal court that her former partner, Sam Bankman-Fried, believed he could win himself the power by donating'significant' amounts of money to politicians.
Ellison, who faces seven counts and has pleaded not guilty to all counts, took the witness stand on Tuesday at Bankman-Fried's trial.
Bankman-Fried defrauded investors and customers of FTX, his now defunct cryptocurrency exchange, by siphoning their funds to Alameda Research, his cryptocurrency hedge fund, without their knowledge or permission.
Bankman-Fried donated 10 million to Biden in 2020, according to Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research.
Bankman-Fried donated $52,800 directly to the Biden Victory Fund and Biden for President in 2020, but he's also accused of donating to politicians under other people's names.
Bankman-Fried has also donated millions of dollars to states' democratic committees and other progressive groups in 2020.
The money given to Biden by the taxpayer was a small amount of money for Bankman-Fried, Ellison said. Even this got him recognition later on, he said.
In September 2022, Salame, who was one of Bankman-Fried's political fixers, said he donated $13.4 million to those year's Republican primary races. Salame pleaded guilty to defrauding the Federal Elections Commission and making a campaign contribution on behalf of a company last month.
Bankman-Fried contributed more than $40 million in political donations in the 2022 campaign cycle, and those mainly went to progressive funds, the FEC data shows.
The Protect our Future PAC, which helped fund the campaigns of dozens of Democrats running for Congress, received $27 million from Bankman-Fried, the FEC said.
Ellison pleaded guilty to four counts of criminal wrongdoing and is testifying as part of a cooperation agreement.
Besides being the CEO of Alameda Research, Ellison had an on-and-off relationship with Bankman-Fried from 2019 to 2022. In her testimony Tuesday, Ellison said that they made their relationship official in 2020.
Ellison, who resigned as chair of the House Energy Committee, said: ''What we're going to do is show people how to do it''.
Bankman-Fried Representatives did not immediately reply to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.