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Senate Unanimously Opposes Clemency for Sam Bankman‑Fried

The nonbinding vote signals broad congressional rejection of a pardon and raises political obstacles to any presidential clemency decision.

Overview

  • The full Senate passed S. Res. 772 by unanimous consent, formally stating that Bankman‑Fried should "under no circumstances" receive a pardon or commutation.
  • Senators Cynthia Lummis and Rubén Gallego sponsored the measure to record bipartisan opposition from the Banking Committee's digital assets leaders.
  • Bankman‑Fried filed a formal pardon application on June 8 and lost a key appeal on June 12, leaving executive clemency as one of his few remaining paths to relief.
  • The resolution is symbolic and carries no legal force over the president's constitutional power to grant clemency, a point underscored by President Trump saying in January he had no plans to pardon Bankman‑Fried.
  • Lawmakers framed the move as protecting victims and the financial system after FTX's collapse cost customers roughly $8 billion, and the unanimous rebuke could make a pardon politically costly even though it remains legally possible.