Soon-to-be Florida Representative Maxwell Frost is under fire for his connection to Sam-Bankman Fried’s FTX scam and his actions with the donations.
Sam Bankman-Fried, disgraced founder of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was a prolific Democrat political donor, dumping about $40 million this election cycle alone into campaign committees and other groups, mostly aligned with Democrats, according to Federal records. While Bankman-Fried was under scrutiny for multiple months, he was only arrested after the midterms passed.
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Florida Representative-elect Maxwell Frost was one of the recipients of Bankman-Fried’s donations. Politico examined the financial records to determine the exact figures.
“Records show that Bankman-Fried gave $5,800 directly to Frost’s campaign. But the super PAC largely backed by Bankman-Fried also provided nearly $1 million of support including money for television and digital ads that aired ahead of the August Democratic primary that Frost won.”
Frost has vowed to donate an equivalent amount of money he received to a non-profit but has not specified which number he will return. He has continued to insist that he never solicited the support and is stalwart in his mission to get “dark money” out of politics.
I never solicited a donation from SBF, but he did donate to my campaign. We are an operation that rejects corporate PAC $$ which means we also reject stolen money.
— Maxwell Alejandro Frost (@MaxwellFrostFL) December 14, 2022
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Frost tweeted that the money would go to a Florida LGBTQ+ non-profit named the “Zebra Coalition.”
I’m donating his contribution to @ZebraCoalition. which helps serve LGBTQ+ youth facing homelessness, bullying, isolation from their families, and physical, sexual and drug abuse with individualized programs to guide them to recovery and stability. They do amazing work here.
— Maxwell Alejandro Frost (@MaxwellFrostFL) December 14, 2022
Frost leaves out that the organization not only provides material assistance but also puts on social events and meet-ups explicitly aimed at children as young as 13.
If you are ages 13 to 17, check out our gender variant virtual meet up to support YOU! We focus on discussions regarding gender, sexuality, healthy living, finding support and many more topics that will meet your needs!
Register by emailing us at: [email protected] 🌈 pic.twitter.com/XShmBMIvlo
— Zebra Coalition (@ZebraCoalition) November 12, 2021
The organization’s website also indicates that the group provides counseling services, potentially without familial involvement, that serves only to “provide emotional support, acceptance, and positive affirmation of all clients.”
The site was otherwise vague about what precisely the “support” and “resources” that it provides entail. The organization also called recent legislation that kept students in the biologically appropriate sports leagues “catastrophic.”
This choice of non-profit put Frost under fire; reporter Chris Nelson called the organization a “leftist laundromat,” potentially alluding to money laundering. The implication is that there is effectively no difference between the non-profit and the DNC’s pockets. Nelson also implored Frost to attempt to return the money to its original owners.
So @MaxwellFrostFL is patting himself on the back for giving his SBF money to something called the Zebra Coalition. It looks like another Leftist laundromat. Why not pay back the investors SBF ripped off? Look for other Dems to “give back” their contributions to Democrat fronts. pic.twitter.com/NYJqPXZu6H
— Chris Nelson 🇺🇸 🏝 (@ReOpenChris) December 14, 2022
Frost responded to the tweet by questioning Nelson’s morality, saying he needed to do some “soul searching,” but did not address the substance.
Frost also defended the move by arguing donation was his only real option.
You rather me send it back to SBF? I can’t refund a donation to anyone other than the person who donated it. Only other option is sending it to a nonprofit. The last thing I’m doing is sending the money back to fund his legal defense fund. https://t.co/M5BZNn9SCB
— Maxwell Alejandro Frost (@MaxwellFrostFL) December 15, 2022
However, one observer on Twitter argued Frost could return the funds to their rightful owners through a bankruptcy trustee fund but chose not to.
Because it's not his money to donate to his pet charity.. it has to go back to the company in this case, the bankruptcy trustee.
— Mr. G (@desty_tiara) December 15, 2022
Because it's not his money to donate to his pet charity.. it has to go back to the company in this case, the bankruptcy trustee.
— Mr. G (@desty_tiara) December 15, 2022
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