Convicted crypto grifter Sam Bankman-Fried was reportedly thrown in solitary confinement following an unauthorized jailhouse interview with Tucker Carlson this week.
On Thursday, Carlson posted a video recording on YouTube of an interview between himself and Bankman-Fried, who is currently serving a 25-year sentence at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Following the interview, Bankman-Fried was moved to solitary confinement. "This particular interview was not approved," spokesperson for the prison told The New York Times.
While speaking to Carlson, Bankman-Fried attempted to position himself as a newfound Republican and said he doesn't think he's a "criminal."
"In 2020, I was center-left, and I gave to Biden's campaign," Bankman-Fried told Carlson. "I was optimistic he would be a center-left president." However, Bankman-Fried said he was "really, really shocked" by the direction the country went under President Joe Biden's leadership.
Bankman-Fried also alleged he's interacted with Sean "Diddy" Combs, who is imprisoned at the same facility. He claimed Combs has been "kind" to him.
Bankman-Fried was convicted of fraud and conspiracy in 2023 after he stole more than $8 Billion from his FTX cyptocurrency exchange customers.
The Carlson interview seems to be Bankman-Fried's latest attempt to secure a pardon from President Donald Trump. And the move was pre-planned. According to prosecutors, Bankman-Fried had a 19-point plan to dig himself out from under FTX's bankruptcy—one point was an interview with Carlson. "Go on Tucker Carlsen [sic], come out as a republican [sic]," he wrote in the document.
Currently, Bankman-Fried has not submitted an official request for a presidential pardon.
Originally published on Latin Times
