Sam Bankman-Fried is paying the price for his interview with Tucker Carlson.
According to The New York Times, the disgraced crypto fraudster was placed in solitary confinement after prison authorities were alerted to the posting of a 45-minute interview with conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson.
A representative for the Bureau of Prisons told the Times that “this particular interview was not approved.”
Prisons have strict rules about how inmates communicate with the outside world.
Meanwhile, the paper also reported that his parents and supporters are working hard to try and earn him a pardon from President Trump, although have so far faced difficulties in making their case.
The report explained:
As part of the clemency effort, Mr. Bankman and Ms. Fried, who are Stanford University law professors and longtime active Democrats, are consulting with Kory Langhofer, an Arizona lawyer who worked for Mr. Trump’s 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns.
Politically connected businesspeople and Washington lobbyists have also received outreach from intermediaries who claim to be allies of Mr. Bankman-Fried, three people with knowledge of the situation said.
His supporters have also taken steps that appear calculated to seek favor with Mr. Trump in smaller ways.
Mr. Bankman, who has maintained a low profile since FTX’s collapse, co-wrote an opinion piece in The Washington Post last month arguing that Mr. Trump’s plans for a sovereign wealth fund could help “dramatically increase corporate productivity.”
During his interview with Carlson, Bankman-Fried discussed everything from his life in prison to his disappointment with the presidency of Joe Biden.
“In 2020, I was center-left, and I gave to Biden’s campaign; I was optimistic he would be a center-left president,” he explained.
“I spent the next few years in D.C. a lot. I was really, really shocked by what I saw there… and not in a good direction.”
“By late 2022, I was giving to Republicans as much as Democrats.”
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