SEC Nominee Questioned About Sam Bankman-Fried’s Parents During Senate Hearing

Tldr

• Senator John Kennedy pressed SEC Paul Attins’s candidate about the SBF’s father’s investigation during the Senate session
• Kennedy threatened to “swoop like ninja” to obtain updates on the potential investigation of the Securities and Stock Exchange Committee
• SBF parents have received the Palace Palace of $ 16.4 million and millions in other benefits from FTX
• Reports indicate that SBF parents seek a presidential pardon for their son
• Atkins expressed concern about the reports, but she did not abide by specific procedures

Republican Senator Louisiana John Kennedy, the candidate of SEC Paul Atines, put a notice during the Senate Banking Committee hearing on March 27, 2025. Kennedy demanded an investigation into the parents of FTX, Sam Sam Benkman.

The listening session was the process of nomination of Atkins as President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Securities and Stock Exchange Committee. Kennedy used his interrogation period for five minutes to fully focus on the FTX case and the role of my parents.

“Every time you come to this committee, I will arrest you like the Ninja to find out what the Supreme Education Council has done,” Kennedy Atkins warned. “Because I don’t think SEC has done something curse.”

Kennedy Fears Center on the alleged advantages received by Barbara Farid and Joseph Bancman, both of them are professors of law in Stanford and the guardians of the convicted FTX founders. According to the complaint filed by FTX in September 2023, the couple received several valuable assets of external encryption exchange now.

According to what was reported, these assets included a $ 16.4 million palace in the Bahamas, 10 million dollars in cash, and another donation of $ 10 million to the political organization “Mind the Gap”. An additional $ 5.5 million for Stanford University was donated, as both parents taught them.

“They are fraudulent and I expect SEC to do something about it,” Kennedy said during the session. Its strong tone reflected the frustration shared by many of the encryption industry and conservatives who believe that the fried banks received preferential treatment despite the 25 -year prison sentence.

Atkins responded with caution on Kennedy’s interrogation. “Like you, I am concerned about these reports,” Atkins said. “I look forward to reaching the Supreme Education Council to find out what happened.”

The candidate explained that he was not in the committee during the FTX crisis in late 2022.

Pardon the rumors and imprisonment developments intensify the audit

Kennedy also referred to reports that Panglan Farid’s parents were looking for a presidential pardon for their son. “I read in the paper that the bank that was trying to get an amnesty,” Kennedy said during the session.

Amnesty reports appeared in January 2025, after President Trump pardoned the founder of Silk Road Ross Olbrech. According to Lilliam Livolsi, head of the White Equity Support Group, it seems that the amnesty of SBF is unlikely due to the direct financial damage involved in the FTX case.

Pankman-Ried parents submitted a request to reject the FTX complaint on January 15, 2024. claim that they are not FTX officers, and they were not employed by the stock exchange, and no one helped defraud the company’s customers.

The lawsuit filed against Panglan Farid’s parents was rejected without bias last month. This means that the case can be re -submitted in the future.

The recent developments in the SBF case include an interview in unacceptable prison with Tucker Carlson in March 2025. After this interview, the Bankman-Ried was placed in solitary confinement and was transferred from the New York facility to one in Oklahoma.

During a Carlson interview, Bankman-Fred claimed that he gave money to Republican candidates “like Democrats”. It also hinted that it becomes more conservative in recent years.

Kennedy’s interrogation line also touched on the role of Stanford University in the situation. Press on Akins on whether the Securities and Stock Exchange has achieved $ 5.5 million to donate to Stanford. In 2023, the university announced that it would return this money.

The session reflected the broader conservative doubts than elite universities. Kennedy stressed his belief that “there should be no legal standards and punishment for people in America.”

While Kennedy was the only Senator to ask Atkins specifically about the FTX crisis, the session was generally broken on the party lines. The Republicans seemed happy with Takins, as they saw him as more logical than his predecessor Gary Ginsler.

Democrats raised concerns about the role of Atkins as the Securities and Stock Exchange Commissioner before the 2008 financial crisis. Senator Elizabeth Warren questioned the potential interests arising from the position of Atkins as the CEO of Potomak Global Partners, a organizational consultant with customers supervised by SEC.

Atkins adhered to abstract his share in Botomac within three months of his confirmation. The Senate Banking Committee is expected to approve its nomination, after which the full Senate’s assertion vote will be followed.

As the confirmation process advanced forward, Senator Kennedy explained that he intends to hold Attins be held accountable for the investigation of the fried Bankman family’s ties with the collapse of FTX.