Senators Cynthia Lummis and Ruben Gallego introduce a resolution opposing clemency for convicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
A formal pardon petition filed this month by Sam Bankman-Fried has drawn a direct response from Congress. Senators Cynthia Lummis and Ruben Gallego, the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Digital Assets, introduced a four-page resolution this week opposing any clemency for the convicted FTX founder.
The petition, filed with the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney, requests a pardon following completion of sentence and remains pending. The senators' resolution is non-binding but puts Congress on record against the request.
"He Had His Day In Court"
"He had his day in court," Lummis said in a statement. "A jury didn't buy the act, and a judge gave him 25 years for a reason." Gallego said Bankman-Fried had shown no remorse for his crimes and called his claims of political persecution unfounded.
The timing follows a setback for Bankman-Fried in the courts. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld his conviction and sentence days before the senators introduced their resolution, leaving him ineligible for release until 2044.
President Trump has separately ruled out a pardon, telling the New York Times in January that he had no plans to grant one. The senators' move reflects continued unease among lawmakers that clemency could still happen despite that public stance.
FTX Fraud Cost Customers $8 Billion
Bankman-Fried's case traces back to the collapse of FTX, the crypto exchange he founded alongside hedge fund Alameda Research. FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 after it emerged that customer funds had been used to support Alameda's trading activities.
A New York jury convicted Bankman-Fried in November 2023 on all seven counts related to defrauding FTX customers, lenders, and investors. Judge Lewis Kaplan sentenced him to 25 years in prison in March 2024 and ordered $11 billion in forfeiture, with prosecutors describing the case as one of the largest financial frauds in US history.
Trump has pardoned other crypto-linked figures over the past year, including Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao. Lummis and Gallego have separately been negotiating broader crypto market structure legislation, with Gallego pushing for provisions barring senior federal officials and their families from certain digital asset transactions.
Read More: CZ Receives Presidential Pardon From Trump Administration
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