https://www.forbes.com/sites/michelatindera/2021/10/21/the-worlds-richest-crypto-billionaire-who-donated-to-biden-is-now-giving-to-republican-senators/?sh=7da9dbb53f5d

Last year, at age 28, crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried made waves by shelling out $5 million to a super-PAC supporting Joe Biden, making him one of the biggest backers of America’s future president.

But this year, he’s made it clear that he’s not all-in for Democrats. Bankman-Fried has donated to six Senate Republicans and four Senate Democrats, including Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who has recently made headlines for opposing Biden’s clean-energy program and Democrats’ plans for voting-rights and filibuster reforms.

Since July, Bankman-Fried has made $5,800 contributions, the maximum individuals can give directly to Congressional campaigns, to the committees of Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Richard Burr, the North Carolina Republican who announced plans to retire at the end of his term in 2023. Bankman-Fried also donated $5,800 to Democratic Senators Patty Murray (Wash.), Alex Padilla (Calif.), Maggie Hassan (N.H.) and Manchin. When reached, Bankman-Fried said he did not want to comment on specific donations.

The crypto king is hardly the only billionaire donor to support both Biden and Republicans on Capitol Hill. Former Facebook president Sean Parker, who gave $620,600 to Biden, also donated to the campaigns of Collins and Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) in 2020. Len Blavatnik gave $52,800 to Biden in 2020, but he also contributed $150,000 to a joint-fundraising committee of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) the same year.

Bankman-Fried joined the Forbes 400 as the richest self-made newcomer in list history this year. He’s now worth an estimated $26.5 billion. He got rich thanks to a crypto exchange called FTX and a trading firm named Alameda Research. Most of his fortune is concentrated in shares of FTX and a portion of its FTT tokens. He has said that he plans to one day give away his entire fortune.

Well, he did “give away” his fortune through some complex transactions, but I suspect whatever got cashed out into meat-space money is safely salted away.

“Bankman-Fried was among the most significant donors to Democrats during the cycle, distributing more than $40 million through direct contributions and super PACs. Salame gave roughly $24 million to Republicans.”

Salame was the co-CEO of FTX. These two crypto idiots were buying influence wherever they could, regardless of the party affiliation. And representatives on both sides of the aisle we’re happily taking their money.

I’ll add that, in my opinion, the Ukraine angle is specious. The Ukrainian government embraced crypto immediately after it was invaded in February 2022 as a means of attracting donations and using a currency that wasn’t tied to its faltering Hryvnia. We can question the wisdom of that move, but logic explains it without conspiracy.

–TechLead (Patrick Shyu)

So now instead of “October surprises” where one party Reveals the Secret Scandal About the Other Party just before an election, we are having “October suppressions” by the media (aka Democrats with by-lines).
2020 was Hunter Biden’s laptop, of course (among a lot of other minor stories).
2016 should have been Hillary’s emails, but I think that got out of the bag and the suppression just didn’t work out.
2012 ??
2008 Obama’s murky past

Query for historians: has an actual October Surprise ever featured the Republicans revealing a Democrat “scandal” or is that another of those one-way-only traditions?

In the same way universities are hedge funds with classrooms.

With midterms a done deal, the FTX pipeline to Dem campaigns and McConnell’s sabotage operation is mysteriously gutted. Who would do such a thing? My guess: someone with inside knowledge.

Maybe the new distribution scheme will be more transparent and less corrupt (*wink*).

I’m thinking that George Lerner would be the ideal shrink for San Francisco’s favorite power couple, the Pelosis. Nancy in particular might need a little pick-me-up from Dr. Feelgood, now that she’s lost her oversize gavel.

ETX was big, but not unique. I’m not sure what’s left at the end, but this is only the beginning of the crypto-cull.