FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Punished for Unauthorized Tucker Carlson Interview

Former FTX CEO has reportedly been placed in solitary confinement after giving an interview to right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson without prison approval. 

Unapproved Interview Leads to Solitary Confinement

After Bankman-Fried’s interview with Carlson was published, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons confirmed that Bankman-Fried did not have permission for the interview. After the interview was published, he was sent to solitary at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, where he’s been held since August 2023. 

The U.S. Bureau of Prisons has strict rules about who can communicate with inmates and how. Sam Bankman-Fried’s interview with Tucker Carlson, published on March 6 on Carlson’s YouTube channel quickly gained attention, reaching 730,425 views at the time of publication.

SBF’s Chances Of Pardon Doubled

In his interview with Tucker Carlson, Sam Bankman-Fried shared his prison experience and thoughts on U.S. crypto rules, insisting he didn’t see himself as “a criminal.” While Carlson didn’t directly ask about a pardon, Bankman-Fried showed interest in some Republican ideas, sparking rumors in the community about a possible Trump pardon after the interview aired.

After the interview, Polymarket, a crypto prediction platform, reported that the chances of a Sam Bankman-Fried pardon nearly doubled. This comes after Trump pardoned Ross Ulbricht, founder of the Silk Road, on January 21, just a day after taking office. 

Bankman-Fried’s legal team also filed an appeal in September 2024 for his seven felony counts and 25-year sentence. In their 102-page brief, they argued that he was never presumed innocent and faced undue bias from prosecutors, the judge, and the media.

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SBF’s family, including his parents Joe Bankman and Barbara Fried, are consulting with a lawyer connected to Trump’s past campaigns to help secure a pardon. Although they haven’t contacted Trump directly, they hope his transactional approach to clemency will work in their favor. However, the clemency effort has not gained much momentum, and it’s unclear if it will succeed.