“Biden DOJ Picked People, Not Crimes,” FTX’s Ryan Salame and SBF Say

Ryan Salame, former FTX executive serving a 7.5-year prison sentence, has accused the Biden DOJ of selective prosecution, ignoring evidence, and sparing Democrats. This comes as numerous people, including outgoing NYC Mayor Eric Adams, claimed the Biden-era DOJ used lawfare against them.

Beleaguered Crypto Exchange FTX’s Ryan Salame and SBF Accuse Biden DOJ

Ryan Salame, in a X post on January 1, reignited debate over the FTX scandal, alleging political bias and prosecution misconduct by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) under the Biden administration.

Salame claimed the DOJ “picked people, not crimes,” targeting him for Republican campaign finance fraud. He added that the agency ignored similar actions by Democrats associated with FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). He asserts that prosecutors disregarded exculpatory evidence and silenced witnesses.

SBF’s X account also reposted Salame’s post to highlight that the Biden-era DOJ targeted people who had no knowledge of the main FTX fraud. They also ignored evidence of a lack of involvement in the scam.

Ryan Salame claimed the DOJ forced him to plead guilty to unlawful political contributions and to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. He also accused a former Assistant U.S. Attorney of threatening to investigate his wife.

“They held a gun on my wife while she was pregnant – both literally and figuratively. I finally capitulated to make sure those dearest to me would be unharmed and because I refused to tell lies they wanted me to,” he added.

Will Trump Pardon Ryan Salame?

Ryan Salame praised President Donald Trump’s executive order to address the alleged “weaponization” of federal agencies by the Biden admin. He hopes for reforms and a potential pardon from Trump, similar to Changpeng Zhao and Arthur Hayes.

While Trump has not pardoned anyone involved directly with the FTX crisis, Salame could get clemency as he was a Republican donor and pleaded guilty.

As CoinGape reported earlier, SBF and his defense team claimed the former crypto billionaire was “presumed guilty” from the start, facing bias from prosecutors, the press, and critically, the presiding judge. SBF argued that he never received a fair trial.

Meanwhile, FTX Token (FTT) has jumped more than 3% to trade at $0.479. The 24-hour low and high are $0.464 and $0.484, respectively.