Text messages revealed this week during the trial of cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried explain why his associates took an interest in Vermont’s U.S. House race last year — and why they decided Becca Balint, the eventual winner, was their preferred candidate.

Bankman-Fried is accused, among other crimes, of using customer funds from his crypto exchange, FTX, to buy influence on Capitol Hill during the 2022 midterm elections. Balint benefited from his political machine to the tune of nearly $1 million during her hotly contested Democratic primary against then-lieutenant governor Molly Gray.

Bankman-Fried’s associates routed the cash through a pro-LGBTQ super PAC under the name of an FTX employee in what the feds contend was an illegal straw-donor scheme. Only after the primary election, which Balint won handily, did the FTX connection come to light through campaign finance disclosures and reporting by Seven Days.



Evidence previously made public during Bankman-Fried’s federal prosecution made clear that his associates were not motivated to support Balint because of her positions on gay rights. Participants in the alleged scheme spoke crassly about donating to “woke shit” to curry favor with Democratic politicians, prosecutors have said.
On Tuesday, prosecutors introduced messages from the “woke shit” exchange that help explain why Bankman-Fried’s political operatives took an outsize interest in a congressional primary in Vermont that involved candidates who were virtually unknown on the national stage.

“The winner here is favored to be the next senator of VT, once someone retires,” the director of a Bankman-Fried-funded super PAC, Michael Sadowsky, wrote to FTX executive Nishad Singh.

Two days later, Singh gave $1.1 million to the LGBTQ Victory Fund Federal PAC, which went on to spend nearly $1 million on ads supporting Balint, who is gay. That, Sadowsky wrote in the text exchange, “is both to help BB win, and to get on her good side.”
The decision followed a series of meetings that Bankman-Fried’s brother, Gabe, and his organization Guarding Against Pandemics held with Balint and her opponents, including Gray, earlier in 2022.

The meetings were ostensibly about pandemic prevention, as Seven Days has previously reported. But the text messages introduced at trial this week indicate that Sam Bankman-Fried’s political operatives were taking cues from the candidates' responses. Balint, Sadowsky wrote, appeared more amenable to their influence than Gray.

“She’s been good on pandemics; put stuff on her website,” Sadowsky wrote of Balint. “Molly Gray said she wouldn’t do anything on it.”

The Balint campaign has denied any role in coordinating with the Bankman-Fried brothers or the LGBTQ Victory Fund, which would be illegal under federal campaign law. But it has been criticized for taking steps that political campaigns commonly use to send indirect messages to outside groups.
Asked for comment on Wednesday, Balint’s campaign manager, Natalie Silver, pointed to a statement that she issued in February.

“As previously stated, the Congresswoman does not know any of the people mentioned in this exchange, has never communicated with them, and did not solicit any donations,” Silver wrote in an email.

The LGBTQ Victory Fund did not respond to requests for comment.

Gray previously told Seven Days that she rebuffed Guarding Against Pandemics during and after a meeting with its leaders. The new text messages appear to confirm her assertion.
Sadowsky's texts also shed light on why the super PAC he ran, Protect Our Future, didn't spend on Balint's behalf. Gray, during an early primary debate, had asked Balint to “publicly reject” any outside spending on the race, and Balint had agreed. Sadowsky, the messages show, was aware of that complication when he asked Singh to funnel money to the LGBTQ Victory Fund.

“Gray got her to commit to denouncing super PAC spending at a debate,” he wrote to Singh. “So we would take a negative press hit.”

As the Victory Fund’s spending picked up during the homestretch of the campaign, Gray criticized it. In response, Silver told VTDigger.org that Gray's criticism was "very close to saying, you know, 'We don't want a gay agenda.'"

In light of the newly revealed text messages, Gray said on Wednesday, “We now know that this was a case study in why we desperately need campaign finance reform and to do everything we can to keep outside money out of Vermont elections.”




Suggestions that Gray was homophobic were “extremely hurtful,” she said, noting that she has not received “a public and explicit apology” from Balint or her campaign.
“What this latest information makes clear is that Vermonters also deserve an apology,” Gray wrote in a follow-up message to Seven Days. “They deserve an apology from Sam Bankman-Fried and anyone else who was involved in funneling over $1 million of outside money into the state in an attempt to mislead voters and influence the outcome of an election.”

Asked if Gray deserved an apology, given the latest information about the provenance and intent of the donation, Silver said in a statement that "neither Rep. Balint or her campaign ever called Ms. Gray homophobic.

"Since the campaign ended over a year ago, Rep. Balint and Molly have spoken privately multiple times, and Rep. Balint considers Molly to be an ally of the LGBTQ community, and has nothing but the respect for Molly and wishes her the best," Silver wrote.

The trial of Bankman-Fried is ongoing this week in Manhattan.

Singh has pleaded guilty to six criminal counts related to the FTX conspiracy and faces up to 75 years in prison. He testified on Monday that he “hopes for no jail time” in return for serving as a government witness against Bankman-Fried.