By Michael Bielawski

Mark Coester, the GOP candidate for Vermont’s U.S. House seat, is saying incumbent Democrat Becca Balint benefited from the high-profile FTX fraud scandal of 2022.

“Coester emphasized the need for true integrity and transparency, criticizing Balint for benefiting from dark money and questionable contributions funneled through ActBlue and FTX, while simultaneously positioning herself as an advocate for reform,” a Coester campaign statement says.

He’s already attacked her border policy, implying that the policies she supports have resulted in a rape epidemic in the southern border region.

A fraud scandal involving FTX made national headlines when it was revealed a young investment banker swindled more than $10 billion from investors.  CNN reported, “[Sam] Bankman-Fried was found guilty of stealing billions of dollars from accounts belonging to customers of his once-high-flying crypto exchange FTX.”

Campaign pleads ignorance

Balint’s campaign manager Natalie Silver claimed they were unaware the money was from a questionable source. She told VTDigger in 2023 that they had “no contact with the LGBTQ Victory Fund federal independent expenditure PAC, and has no knowledge of The LGBTQ Victory Fund’s interactions with their donors or their plans for their funds.”

The Commons wrote in 2022 that they were unimpressed with her campaign’s handling of the scandal. They wrote, “Balint wrote that she did not know ‘this person’ who had donated to the Victory Fund. And she noted that federal law prohibits her from coordinating with the independent expenditure arm of the Victory Fund, and she wrote multiple times that she had ‘no control’ over its raising and spending.”

Questionable ‘Red Boxing’ campaign action

As reported in August of 2022 by the VDC, Balint’s campaign may have engaged in a questionable campaign strategy known as “red boxing”. This is when campaigns intentionally on their sites mirror rhetoric sometimes nearly word-for-word with the language used on the Super PAC sites.

The idea is to subtly ‘flag wave’ to the PACs, to work around the fact that direct cooperation between a PAC and a campaign is illegal.

VDC reported, “The Protecting Our Futures PAC – ostensibly to provide oversight of lab work to prevent a future pandemic – is funded by Sam Bankman-Fried, an FTX founder and MIT classmate of Singh. Not only did Bankman-Fried’s PAC endorse Balint, Bankman-Fried and his brother Gabe donated $2900 to the Balint campaign, the maximum amount, VTDigger reports.”

The report then continues about the suspected red boxing.

“In addition to seeking the POF PAC endorsement and accepting the two brothers’ money, the campaign also published on its own website almost verbatim the PAC’s language on pandemic protection – the stated purpose of the PAC,” it states.

On the POF PAC website: “We must establish independent oversight of dual-use research including enforcement mechanisms to ensure safety and security.”

And on the Balint website: “Establish independent oversight of labs conducting dual-use research of concern.”

The VDC report states, “Time will tell if candidate and laboratory quality assurance control reformer Becca Balint maintains her newfound commitment as a sitting member of Congress.”

More media coverage

The scandal garnered negative headlines for Balint including when a Progressive/Independent who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate called for her resignation, as posted on VDC.

“Who needs another alleged corrupt Democrat right now, when Republicans are taking over the U.S. House of Representatives,” Cris Ericson wrote on Dec. 13, 2022. “The Smirking Chimp,” an online news and opinion platform claiming to offer “news and commentary from the vast left-wing conspiracy.”

VTDigger implicated Balint’s campaign funds in the scandal.

“Texts unveiled publicly this week by prosecutors in the unfolding trial of Bankman-Fried, the former cryptocurrency mogul now charged with a series of financial crimes, lay bare the cynical scheme behind a $1 million pro-Balint ad blitz in last year’s House race,” they wrote.

Forbes also covered the scandal.

“Becca Balint, a state senator running for Vermont’s sole seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, received an unexpected campaign boost one month before primary day: an indirect $1.1 million donation from a 26-year-old executive at crypto exchange FTX,” it states.

Coester calls for more explanation

Coester likewise concludes that Balint was a beneficiary.

“From the nearly $1 million funneled through a super PAC funded by Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX to the use of ActBlue as a questionable fundraising platform, Balint’s actions undermine her calls for transparency and integrity,” he states.

Coester’s campaign presser continues to outline how a donation processor company that her campaign used is under investigation. The processor company was ActBlue, a nonprofit fundraising platform.

It states, “Recent reports highlight that ActBlue, the donation processor used by Balint’s campaign, is currently under investigation for its lack of security measures that could enable fraudulent donations. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Congress have launched inquiries into ActBlue’s practices, including its failure to require CVV codes on credit card donations, which opens the door for illegal foreign contributions and donation fraud.”

It cites that U.S. House Oversight Chairman James Comer and Congressman Nick Langworthy have requested Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) involving ActBlue and the U.S. Treasury. Investigations are ongoing into whether foreigners used ActBlue to funnel illicit donations to her campaign and others.

Coester says that Balint’s campaign needs to explain “why she remained silent while Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto fortune poured into her race.”

He concludes “For too long, politicians like Becca Balint have used campaign finance reform as a talking point while benefiting from the very system they claim to oppose. I will fight for real reforms that eliminate these loopholes, hold politicians accountable, and restore trust in our elections.”

The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle