'She wasn't well received': Georgia state lawmaker reveals how Harris is seen in community
Many Wall Street executives are worried about Trump but wary of Harris
Toyota global output falls for 7th straight month in August
Israel-Hamas war latest: With nearly 700 killed in a week, Lebanon fears Gaza-level violence
As the Ukraine war enters a critical period, the EU moves ahead without the US
Helene weakens to a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph over Georgia
World shares advance as China ups its stimulus and Japan's Ishiba is chosen to head its ruling party
Japan factory output seen down on weak overseas demand, typhoon disruptions: Reuters poll
Beijing pulls out the policy stops
Shohei Ohtani heads to 1st postseason after Dodgers clinch NL West title with a 7-2 win over Padres
Giants' Malik Nabers, Cowboys' Micah Parsons injured in Thursday night game
Chicago Sky fire coach Teresa Weatherspoon after 1 season, reports say
(Reuters) - Jailed former billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried considered paying former U.S. President Donald Trump to not run for re-election in 2020, according to an excerpt of a forthcoming book published on Sunday.
In the excerpt published in the Washington Post, Michael Lewis, the author of "Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon", said Bankman-Fried at the time was planning to give $15 million to $30 million to Republican Senator Mitch McConnell to defeat the "Trumpier" candidates in the Senate races.
"On a separate front, he explained to me, as the plane descended into Washington, he was exploring the legality of paying Donald Trump himself not to run for president," Lewis wrote.
"His team had somehow created a back channel into the Trump operation and returned with the not terribly Earth-shattering news that Donald Trump might indeed have his price: $5 billion. Or so Sam was told by his team."
The excerpt did not discuss why Bankman-Fried did not press ahead with the plans.
Bankman-Fried, the founder of now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has pleaded not guilty to seven counts of fraud and conspiracy stemming from the cryptocurrency exchange's collapse in November 2022.
He faces a statutory maximum of 110 years in prison, though any sentence would be determined by the judge overseeing the case based on a range of factors, and he would likely get far less.
Lewis' book release coincides with the start of Bankman-Fried's fraud trial this week.
(Reporting by Jyoti Narayan in Bengaluru; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
