Beto O'Rourke has returned a $1 million check from FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried after the Crypto

[Celerity]

billionaire was accused of fraud. THAT is leadership.

Link to tweet

Sam Bankman-Fried was the 2nd largest Democratic donor in 2021-22 (after Soros)

[SoCalDavidS]

1. Good On Beto

He'll NEVER win a Statewide campaign in TX though.

[Celerity]

2. I would think that some (not me) will be pushing for him to run v the traitor Carnival Cruz again

[SoCalDavidS]

4. Cancun Cruz May Be Hated By Many

But they still LOVE him in TX. Probably because he stands for Owning The Libs.

All the people in TX care about is the (r) next to his name.

Beto is a good enough guy, but the fact he's the best the party has in TX, and yet keeps losing, tells me all I need to know about the Democrats' chances in that state.

I sincerely hope he doesn't waste the party's time by running another statewide campaign there, just so he can lose by double digits again. Perhaps he could run for a House seat, in a Blue/Purple district like El Paso.

The party needs to focus on holding at least partial power in states like GA, AZ & NV, while letting shithole states like TX & FL do their own thing, rather than spending lots of money on lost causes there.

[TexasBushwhacker]

7. FWIW, 400K people voted for Gregg Abbott that year

Who voted for Beto over Fled.

[SoCalDavidS]

8. And Beto Lost To Abbott This Year By 900K

I'm sorry, but TX is a pipe dream. The party could invest in House races in some of the purple areas, but would be far better off ignoring the Statewide & Presidential races, and spending that money elsewhere. We came far closer to flipping Senate seats in WI & NC than Beto will ever come against Cancun Cruz.

[TexasBushwhacker]

9. It was more a comment about the popularity of Cruz

I'm well aware that Beto lost to Abbott. Even Uvalde County, which had the horrible shooting at Robb Elementary School, killing 19 students and 2 teachers back in May, still went 60% for Abbott. I just don't get it. And Uvalde is 70% Latino. I would think Democrats would do a little better.

[Cha]

3. TY.. Good on Beto! & TY George

Soros.. money well spent!:

[dpibel]

5. Or before he was accused of fraud

At least according to this DU thread, https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217418289

Beto's campaign returned the check four days before election day, which was before the big meltdown.

[Celerity]

6. yes, although 2 days before the Nov 4th return of the cheque, Coindesk had dropped a bombshell

about FTX, which got the whole thing rolling.

Divisions in Sam Bankman-Fried’s Crypto Empire Blur on His Trading Titan Alameda’s Balance Sheet

Alameda had $14.6 billion of assets as of June 30, according to a private document CoinDesk reviewed. Much of it is the FTT token issued by FTX, another Bankman-Fried company.

https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/11/02/divisions-in-sam-bankman-frieds-crypto-empire-blur-on-his-trading-titan-alamedas-balance-sheet/

Nov 2, 2022 at 3:44 p.m.

Billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency empire is officially broken into two main parts: FTX (his exchange) and Alameda Research (his trading firm), both giants in their respective industries.

But even though they are two separate businesses, the division breaks down in a key place: on Alameda’s balance sheet, according to a private financial document reviewed by CoinDesk. (It is conceivable the document represents just part of Alameda.)

That balance sheet is full of FTX – specifically, the FTT token issued by the exchange that grants holders a discount on trading fees on its marketplace. While there is nothing per se untoward or wrong about that, it shows Bankman-Fried’s trading giant Alameda rests on a foundation largely made up of a coin that a sister company invented, not an independent asset like a fiat currency or another crypto. The situation adds to evidence that the ties between FTX and Alameda are unusually close.

The financials make concrete what industry-watchers already suspect: Alameda is big. As of June 30, the company’s assets amounted to $14.6 billion. Its single biggest asset: $3.66 billion of “unlocked FTT.” The third-largest entry on the assets side of the accounting ledger? A $2.16 billion pile of “FTT collateral.”

[Jose Garcia]

10. Was he so confident of losing that he left that much unspent money

in the bank?

[Celerity]

11. it happens all the time, look at 2020 with the CRAZY money wasted on hopeless Senate races

TX, SC, KY, and, to a lesser extent, ME (Gideon was a poor candidate, not a native Mainer, which matters a LOT there, and Manchin endorsing Collins gave her bi partisan cred)

all because the Rethug was a triggering POS

100's of millions wasted, a shedload of it not spent, whilst MT and IA were buried late by a couple hundred million in LATE, blanket attack adverts fueled by RW dark money, and we did not have the money to respond. NC too, BUT that was also on the idiot sexter, and weak candidate Cunningham. Jeff Jackson, who did not run, would have won IMHO.