Kid Gloves: New York Times Criticized for Promoting ‘Lingering Sympathy’ for Disgraced FTC Boss Sam Bankman-Fried

The New York Times recently published an article that suggested there is “lingering sympathy” for disgraced FTX founder and Democrat super donor Sam Bankman-Fried who has been charged with defrauding customers and money laundering, with thousands of people losing money.

On December 26th, the New York Times published an article by business reporter Rob Copeland titled “In the Bahamas, a Sympathy for Sam Bankman-Fried,” in which he claimed that there was widespread sympathy for Sam Bankman-Fried in the Bahamas, despite the fact that Bankman-Fried is now charged with money laundering and defrauding customers out of billions of dollars.

Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas on December 12 and charged with eight criminal offenses. Bankman-Fried has been accused of diverting money from his cryptocurrency exchange FTX to cover expenses and high-priced purchases since 2019.

Copeland wrote in the article: “The connection between Bahamians and Mr. Bankman-Fried, who was born and spent most of his life in California, reflects a complicated set of circumstances. Much as he did in the United States, Mr. Bankman-Fried donated millions of dollars to a dizzying collection of Bahamian charities, churches and government entities — including the local police.”

Copeland added: “Yet in interviews across the island Mr. Bankman-Fried called home for just over a year, residents almost universally said that while the white-collar nature of his crimes was troublesome, they were hardly comparable to the gang violence that pervades some corners of the island. They expressed fears of economic fallout for the island if he and the other cryptocurrency brethren he attracted didn’t return.”

Social media users were quick to note that the NYT — which hosted Bankman-Fried at its DealBook Summit after the allegations were made against him — appeared to be attempting to downplay Bankman-Fried’s alleged crimes. National Observer columnist Max Fawcett joked via Twitter: “Step one: find the editor who thought this was a good idea. Step two: get rid of said editor.”

Radio host Dan O’Donnell accused the NYT of having a racially motivated angle in its downplaying of Bankman-Fried’s alleged crime while focusing on gang crime in the Bahamas, stating: “‘The black people’s crimes are way worse than the white guy’s crimes’ is quite the take, @nytimes.”

Politico reporter Ari Hawkins stated: “You can’t tell from the piece, but crime in the Bahamas fell 13% in 2021 and has steadily declined for the last several years. (14 grafs in the author vaguely gestures to this). And still, these descriptions of non-white regions as apocalyptic by default aren’t going anywhere.”

Sky News host Rita Panahi wrote: “NYT’s support for fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried is pathological.” Panahi pointed out that the NYT has oddly gone to bat for Bankman-Fried to a surprising level.

Despite being arrested and charged, Bankman-Fried has been released from police custody on a $250 million bond by a New York judge and is reportedly staying at his parents’ home in California awaiting trial.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan