💰 Crypto king's "dirty money"

Plus: 14,000 migrants a day | Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Walmart   Axios Sneak Peek By Alayna Treene, Hans Nichols and Zachary Basu · Dec 13, 2022 Welcome back to Sneak. Smart Brevity™ count: 1,062 words ... 4 minutes.     1 big thing: SBF's "dirty money" Sam Bankman-Fried is escorted out of the Magistrate Court building in Nassau, Bahamas, today. Photo: Dante Carrer/Reuters Disgraced crypto kingpin Sam Bankman-Fried was charged today with illegally steering tens of millions of dollars to federal political campaigns — a key footnote in what prosecutors are calling "one of the biggest financial frauds in American history." Why it matters: The campaign finance allegations have intensified the political shockwaves of FTX's collapse and Bankman-Fried's arrest, following his dramatic ascendance as one of the country's most prolific political donors, Axios' Lachlan Markay writes. "All of this dirty money was used in service of Bankman-Fried's desire to buy bipartisan influence and impact the direction of public policy in Washington," U.S. attorney Damian Williams said at a press conference. The big picture: Bankman-Fried gave tens of millions to Democratic candidates and groups this cycle. He has said he also made large contributions to Republican political candidates but did so in a way that hid the donations. "[R]eporters freak the f**k out if you donate to a Republican because they're all super liberal," Bankman-Fried said in an interview last month. "And I didn't want to have that fight, so I just made all the Republican ones dark." Bankman-Fried estimated he was actually the "second or third biggest" Republican donor in the country during the 2022 midterms but that he was able to shield those donations from public view. What's happening: The federal indictment unsealed today includes eight charges — including one that Bankman-Fried conspired to violate a federal law barring campaign contributions knowingly made in the name of another person. That's what's known as a straw donation, and it's often used to illegally mask the true identity of a political donor by routing his or her contribution through another person or organization. It can also be used by a single donor to circumvent campaign contribution limits by parceling out a large donation among multiple straw donors — or by companies trying to get around corporate donation restrictions by routing money through an individual donor. The intrigue: The indictment does not name any of the beneficiaries of Bankman-Fried's allegedly illegal donations. But Bankman-Fried's description of the scale of his Republican giving operation suggests they included independent expenditure groups such as super PACs or party committees, since candidates generally can't accept checks larger than $10,000 per cycle from a single source. What they're saying: "This guy got a lot of friends in Congress, on both sides of the aisle," said Stuart McPhail, senior legal counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "He did it pretty quickly. And it just so happened to happen when he was spreading a lot of money around. That's probably not a coincidence." Share this story.     2. 🚨 Biden braces for 14,000 migrants a day Hundreds of migrants wait to cross the border on the banks of the Rio Grande that divides Ciudad Juárez in Mexico and El Paso, Texas. Photo: Jose Zamora/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images   The possibility of 14,000 migrant crossings a day is pushing the Biden administration toward a new rule that would severely limit migrants' ability to qualify for asylum at the southern border, Axios' Stef Kight has learned. Why it matters: Officials are concerned that Border Patrol stations will face acute overcrowding and Department of Homeland Security resources will be overwhelmed when the pandemic-era Title 42 policy ends on Dec. 21, according to sources familiar with the plans. Driving the news: Title 42, implemented during the Trump administration and extended by President Biden, allows for the rapid expulsion of migrants and asylum seekers at the border. It's scheduled to be lifted in less than two weeks, barring last-minute court intervention. Encounters with migrants at the southern border are already at record levels, with the daily tally surpassing 9,000 three times in the first week and a half of December, the sources told Axios. Officials now are preparing for the possibility of between 12,000 to 14,000 migrants attempting to cross every day. Behind the scenes: A new draft rule that would impose an asylum ban for roughly five months — initially — has been circulated internally. It would apply to both migrant single adults and families who cross the border illegally — as well as those who arrive at legal ports of entry without already having proper authorization to enter. A final decision on adopting the new rule hasn't been made. The big picture: The consideration of a drastic move such as automatically rejecting people from asylum — similar to what was done under the Trump administration — is a sign of just how concerned top Biden officials are about the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border. Keep reading.     3. 👀 Mapped: GOP's case for optimism Data: The New York Times; Map: Axios Visuals For all the talk of the "red wave" that never materialized, the New York Times' Nate Cohn has this sobering statistic for Democrats: Republicans won the national House popular vote by three points (51% to 48%), turning the House vote red in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada and Wisconsin — five battleground states that President Biden won in 2020. "If this were a presidential election, House Republicans would have claimed 297 electoral votes," Cohn writes. Reality check: That doesn't necessarily mean anything for 2024, especially given that candidate quality was a key factor that drove Democratic Senate victories in four of the five states mentioned above (Republicans won Wisconsin).     A message from Walmart Walmart helps save families up to 75% on insulin     Since June 2021, families across America have saved more than $15 million on insulin. Thanks to Walmart's low-cost private brand, shoppers can save up to 75% off the cash price of branded insulin. Learn more about how Walmart helps families live better.     4. 🗣️ Quoted: McConnell's broken record Photo: Nathan Howard/Getty Images Speaking of candidate quality, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) offered this midterm postmortem at his weekly press conference today: We ended up having a candidate quality test. Anybody remember who mentioned that back in August? Look at Arizona. Look at New Hampshire. And the challenging situation in Georgia as well. ... I do think we have an opportunity to relearn — one more time — we have to have quality candidates to win in competitive Senate races. We went through this in 2010 and 2012. ... And, unfortunately, we revisited that situation in 2022. 💥 Shots fired: "Our ability to control the primary outcome was quite limited in '22 because the support of the former president proved to be very decisive in these primaries," McConnell added, pinning the blame on Donald Trump for hand-picking flawed candidates.     5. 🏳️‍🌈 Parting shot Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP NBC News reports the Secret Service screened 5,300 guests — a massive audience — to attend President Biden's signing of the Respect for Marriage Act on the South Lawn of the White House today. "This law and the love it defends strike a blow against hate in all its forms," Biden said in his address. "And that's why this law matters to every single American."     A message from Walmart Walmart helps families save on the things they need most     Over 37 million Americans have diabetes. With Walmart, they can save up to 75% compared to the cash price of branded insulin. This adds up to more than $15 million saved across America since June 2021. Learn more about how Walmart helps families live better.   📬 Thanks for reading tonight. This newsletter was edited by Zachary Basu and copy edited by Kathie Bozanich. Are you a fan of this email format? Your essential communications — to staff, clients and other stakeholders — can have the same style. Axios HQ, a powerful platform, will help you do it.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.   Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.   Follow Axios on social media: