Two Senators Just Drew a Line in the Sand: No Pardon for Sam Bankman-Fried

What Happened

Sam Bankman-Fried's long-shot campaign for a presidential pardon just ran into a wall of senators from both parties. Cynthia Lummis, the Wyoming Republican, and Ruben Gallego, the Arizona Democrat, introduced a four-page resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that 'under no circumstances' should the convicted FTX founder receive a pardon, commutation, or any other form of federal clemency. The two say they intend to seek unanimous consent to pass it quickly — a move that would put every senator on record.

The resolution is non-binding. It cannot stop a pardon, and a president retains full constitutional clemency power regardless of how the Senate feels about it. But the symbolism is hard to miss: a Republican and a Democrat, rarely aligned on much, standing together to tell the White House to leave this one alone.

What They Said

Lummis didn't soften it. 'He had his day in court,' she said. 'A jury didn't buy the act, and a judge gave him 25 years for a reason. Mr. Bankman-Fried can spend that time chasing clemency he hasn't earned, or he can finally do something novel and take accountability.' Gallego was blunter still, accusing Bankman-Fried of stealing the savings of millions of Americans and showing zero remorse — instead, Gallego said, SBF has 'laughably' tried to recast himself as a victim of lawfare. 'What a joke,' he added.

Bankman-Fried was convicted in late 2023 on seven counts tied to the collapse of FTX and sentenced to 25 years in prison. His clemency petition currently shows as 'pending' in the Justice Department's public records.

Why It Matters

For the crypto industry, the FTX implosion remains the single most damaging chapter in its short public life — billions in customer funds vaporized, a generation of retail traders burned, and a regulatory backlash that still shapes policy today. A pardon would reopen that wound and hand critics a fresh narrative that crypto fraud carries no real consequences. That's why even crypto-friendly lawmakers like Lummis, one of the Senate's loudest Bitcoin advocates, want daylight between the industry and any clemency for SBF.

For now, the White House isn't biting. Asked whether the president might clear Bankman-Fried, a spokesperson pointed back to comments from January in which the president said he had no plans to do so. The petition sits in limbo — and the Senate just made sure it stays politically radioactive.

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