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Political insiders had their suspicions, but it wasn’t clear until this weekend that a national Democrats’ political action committee, House Majority PAC, began spending on political outsider Carrick Flynn’s congressional campaign only after receiving a substantial donation from Flynn’s crypto-billionaire backer.
Plenty of people speculated that a substantial donation could perhaps explain why House Majority PAC, associated with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was getting involved in a Democratic primary when usually it fought for Democrats against Republicans.
It’s no longer speculation. The richest man in cryptocurrency, Sam Bankman-Fried—who spent $11.4 million in vain through Protect Our Future to try to get Flynn through the Democratic primary—also gave to House Majority PAC.
Bloomberg first reported Saturday that Bankman-Fried gave House Majority PAC $6 million. The donation occurred April 4. House Majority PAC’s support for Flynn became public April 11.
Bloomberg also reported that Bankman-Fried’s $6 million constituted the vast majority of the $9.8 million House Majority PAC raised in April, and that he was among the largest donors to super PACs last month. (Bloomberg did not draw the connection to the PAC’s support for Flynn.)
House Majority PAC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
State Rep. Andrea Salinas (D-Lake Oswego) won the Democratic primary for Oregon’s new 6th District, despite being outspent by Flynn’s backers.