Ryan Salame, the former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, said the United States government has unfairly targeted him because of his support for the Republican Party.

Salame appeared on the Tucker Carlson Show, which was released on Oct. 10, a day after the former FTX executive requested a judge to delay his self-surrender date by roughly two months on medical grounds.

Speaking to Carlson, Salame alleged he was wrongly charged with “campaign finance violations” for donating to the Republican Party. He highlighted that his convicted colleagues, including former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who he said “helped get Biden elected,” were never charged with similar violations:

“Correct me if I’m wrong here. You have Sam Bankman-Fried, who’s in prison for a long time, but he’s not been charged with any campaign finance violations. He gave it to Democrats.”

Salame has not been charged with any crimes related to the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX. Instead, he faces campaign finance violations stemming from borrowing money from Alameda Research for political contributions. Salame said he donated between $20 million and $30 million to Republican candidates.

Donated funds acquired illegally

Salame’s lawyers previously advised him that the borrowed funds he donated were legal. However, he was accused of orchestrating a straw donor scheme by illegally using another person’s money to make political contributions in their name. 

He also questioned the validity of the second charge against him related to operating without a money-transmitting license.

Salame noted that Bankman-Fried donated approximately $60 million to $70 million to Democratic candidates during the 2020 election cycle. 

Salame claimed he was pressured into pleading guilty by federal prosecutors, who allegedly threatened to investigate his child’s mother:

“They told me that if I pled guilty to these two crimes, they would not pursue my loved ones and look at anything that they had done or investigating them.”

Using family members as leverage

Salame pleaded guilty to the charges on the condition that authorities would not involve his family in the investigations. However, he alleged that the government broke that agreement:

“Because the government has now continued to pursue the mother of my child, despite saying that they wouldn’t if I pled guilty. So I’m going to use that in an attempt an appeal.” 

In contrast, Salame emphasized that none of Bankman-Fried’s family members have faced legal consequences despite their involvement with the convicted entrepreneur.

Salame has spent approximately $6 million on legal fees and remains critical of the American justice system, which he believes prioritizes convictions over the truth.

Related: No, FTX distribution payments do not begin on Sept. 30

On Oct. 9, former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison agreed to settle the case with FTX by turning over “substantially all of her assets.”

In a motion filed on Oct. 7, Ellison agreed to transfer any assets not forfeited to the government in her criminal case or used for legal fees to FTX creditors.

The motion noted that once she meets the terms, “Ellison will have no remaining assets other than certain physical personal property,” without specifying the value of the assets she would forfeit.

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