Yes, Prosecutors Will Claw Back FTX Money From US Lawmakers

The DOJ reportedly sent a letter to lawmakers instructing them to surrender FTX donations to US Marshals

article-image

lev radin/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

The Department of Justice has instructed lawmakers with FTX-linked political donations to hand over the cash, and at least some Congressional campaigns have complied. 

Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, was one of the campaigns the DOJ contacted earlier this year regarding political donations from FTX, as well as its associated subsidiaries and individual employees. 

Ryan Salame, the former chief executive of FTX Global Markets, gave $2,900 to Latta’s campaign in October 2022, data from the Federal Election Commission shows. Salame gave a total of nearly $23 million to candidates during the 2022 midterm election cycle, almost exclusively to Republicans. 

Latta’s campaign voluntarily transferred the funds shortly after receiving the notice from the DOJ, his team told Blockworks on Wednesday. The exchange appears to have taken place earlier this year.   

A campaign that backed Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ohio., also surrendered funds, a spokesperson told Blockworks. 

“The funds were transferred so that people who were defrauded can receive some compensation for their losses,” the spokesperson added. 

Reps. Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn., also surrendered FTX-linked donations to US Marshals, according to multiple reports.

The Molinaro campaign confirmed with Blockworks that its donation had been sent to a US Marshals recovery fund. Offices of the other representatives did not respond to Blockworks’ request for comment on Wednesday. The Department of Justice likewise did not immediately return a request for comment. 

The news of surrendered funds comes months after some lawmakers said they had or would be donating political contributions they received from the now-bankrupt exchange and its founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who is currently facing 13 federal charges. 

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García, D-Ill., said in November, days after FTX’s bankruptcy filing, that they would donate the $2,900 they each received from Bankman-Fried. 

Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., told Blockworks in late November he had already donated his contributions to “a local charity to assist with holiday food distribution to families in need.”

Charities are not exempt from clawbacks, Jason Lilien, partner at Loeb and Loeb, said around the same time. 

Surrendered and clawed-back funds typically go toward repaying customers, victims and creditors. 

But the status of those broader efforts wasn’t immediately clear on Wednesday — extending to the voluminous number of charities that ended up with political donations, or for nonprofits Bankman-Fried donated to directly. 

Update: Thurs May 18 at 10:32am ET. Added confirmation from Molinaro campaign.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates (2).png

Research

We’re bullish on the PUMP token. We believe Pump.fun's brand strength, existing integrations, product roadmap, and strategic levers justify PUMP's TGE valuation, and expect the token to re-rate meaningfully higher in the months ahead.

article-image

Big blockers wasted a bitcoin fortune trying to prove a point

article-image

Coinbase’s newest acquisition includes the CEO and Head of Research from Opyn

article-image

Crypto’s highest purpose might be to make markets better by making them bigger

article-image

The non-profit’s “Project Open” seeks to let stocks trade directly on Solana

article-image

The acquisition is Pump.fun’s first, and comes just days before its planned ICO

article-image

As Trump’s tariff war reignites, everyone is assuming the dollar will continue its path lower. But the journey might be bumpy