Source: Cointelegraph Original: "{title}"
U.S. Senator John Kennedy harshly questioned SEC nominee Chairman Paul Atkins during the Senate Banking Committee nomination hearing on March 27 regarding the potential pardon for Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF).
The Republican senator from Louisiana posed a series of questions to Atkins about the former FTX CEO and delved into the Bankman-Fried family's donations to Stanford University.
Senator John Kennedy questioning SEC nominee Chairman Paul Atkins. Source: Senate Banking Committee
Kennedy then urged the SEC to take action to prevent any potential pardon for SBF. He added, "There should not be two sets of laws and standards of punishment in America. Every time you come before this committee, I will question you fiercely like a ninja, trying to figure out what the SEC has actually done, because I believe the SEC has done nothing at all."
"I read in the newspaper that the Bankman family is trying to secure a pardon for their son. They are criminals, and I hope the SEC will take action on this," the senator continued.
Reports in January indicated that SBF's parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, were seeking a pardon from President Trump for their son, especially after Trump recently pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht.
Paul Atkins answering questions at the nomination hearing. Source: Senate Banking Committee
Presidential pardon "unlikely for SBF"
According to William Livolsi, executive director of a white-collar support group, SBF is unlikely to receive a pardon for several reasons that differentiate his case from that of Silk Road founder Ulbricht.
In Ulbricht's case, the charges were related to operating a prohibited market without victim crimes, rather than crimes that resulted in billions in losses for investors.
Livolsi also noted that Ulbricht was sentenced to two life terms plus an additional 40 years without the possibility of parole, and the fact that then-candidate Trump publicly promised to pardon Ulbricht made the circumstances of the two cases different.
Tucker Carlson interviewing SBF from prison. Source: Tucker Carlson
Nevertheless, SBF has attempted to align himself with Republicans in several interviews with independent media, including an interview with the New York Post in February 2025 and an interview with Tucker Carlson.
This interview with Carlson was conducted without prison authorities' approval, resulting in SBF being placed in solitary confinement after the interview and being transferred from a prison in New York to a facility in Oklahoma.
Related: French state bank allocates $27 million to support "strongly French-themed" crypto projects
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