UNDER THE TABLE?

Ex-FTX Exec Investigated for Possible Campaign Finance Violations

A source says the feds are carefully examining the money Ryan Salame gave to his girlfriend’s campaign.

Former FTX top executive Ryan Salame and his ex-congressional candidate girlfriend Michelle Bond are under investigation by Manhattan federal prosecutors for possible violations of campaign-finance law, sources told The Wall Street Journal. Last summer, Bond ran as a Republican for a congressional seat in Long Island and received more than $54,000 from Salame and his crypto associates, according to Federal Election Commission filings. The filings also show she contributed $145,309 to her own campaign and lent it nearly $880,000. A person familiar with the matter told the Journal that investigators are carefully examining the money Salame gave to Bond and her campaign to see if the couple illegally avoided federal limits on contributions. The 2022 election rules stipulated that individuals had a limit of $2,900 to donate to a federal candidate’s primary campaign and $2,900 to the general election. While there aren’t restrictions for how much candidates can contribute to their own campaign, the funds must solely belong to them. Lawyers for Bond and Salame did not respond to requests for comment from the Journal.