On Tuesday the Republican Party of Iowa issued a release calling on the Iowa Democrat Party to return a $250,000 contribution it received from Nishad Singh, a former executive of FTX.
RPI Chairman Jeff Kaufmann asked if Iowa Democrats were planning to continue to it on money from “blatant con artists who defrauded innocent Americans” or if they would “return this dirty money.”
But it turns out some Iowa Republicans received money from FTX individuals. Ryan Salame, according to reports, was the GOP’s 10th largest donor. Salame pled guilty last month to conspiracy to make unlawful political contributions and defraud the FEC and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business. According to reports, he admitted his job at FTX was to illegally funnel money to Republican politicians and causes.
The Gateway Pundit reported on Thursday 13 of the 22 GOP holdouts against Rep. Jim Jordan for Speaker accepted donations from Salame — many of them were $2,900 donations (which are the maximum contribution allowed for individuals).
Here are Salame’s donations to Iowa-related representatives from 2022:
May 24: $2,900 to Joni For Iowa
July 21: $5,800 to Ashley Hinson for Congress ($2,900 of which was returned on July 25)
Oct. 10: $2,900 to Grassley Committee
Oct. 27: $2,900 to Miller-Meeks for Congress
Nov. 7: $5,000 to The Hawkeye PAC (Chuck Grassley’s PAC)
Salame also contributed $250,000 to the Value In Electing Women PAC. That PAC then contributed $5,000 to Hinson (May 18, 2023) and $5,000 to Miller-Meeks (May 18, 2023). In addition, Hinson’s Fight On PAC received $5,000 from the Value In Electing Women PAC. The Value In Electing Women PAC also contributed $5,000 to the JONI PAC (Ernst’s PAC) in 2022 and $5,000 again in 2023.
That may just be the tip of the iceberg. Salame gave $2 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, which then gets shipped out to various candidates. He gave $500,000 to Defending Main Street Super PAC
In addition to Salame, Sam Bankman-Fried himself contributed $5,800 to Ernst on May 24. He contributed $2,900 on June 7 but it was returned on the same day likely due to contribution limits.
Earlier this year, a report said 34 political campaigns said they were going to donate the money to nonprofits. Another group of 14 said they were holding the donations and waiting for instructions on how to return it. Just five members who received contributions said they had successfully given it back. Another 143 didn’t respond to inquiries about the money.
