By Guy Page
A new AI satire video by Hank “Planet Hank” Poitras lampoons Rep. Becca Balint for a 2022 $1.1 million campaign contribution from an associate of one-time crypto king Samuel Bankman-Fried.
The contribution to the LGBTQ Victory Fund resulted in $991,000 spent on Balint’s behalf, helping lift her to victory in her first try for Vermont’s sole seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
$991,000 of the $1.1. million contribution to the LGBTQ Victory Fund was spent on behalf of Balint’s primary campaign, helping her defeat Molly Gray. Balint won easily in the general election. After the election, Balint pointed out that she had no control over contributions or spending by PACs like the LGBTQ Victory Fund.
Bankman-Fried is serving a 25-year federal prison term imposed in March, 2024 after conviction for what the Department of Justice called his “orchestration of multiple fraudulent schemes.”
The AI-generated video is Poitras’s third to target Balint. The first, which depicted backhoe-driving GOP challenger Mark Coester dumping Balint into a dumpster, is under investigation by Attorney General Charity Clark for possible violation of the state’s new synthetic media law, which prohibits deceitful, fraudulent AI-generated images in campaign advertising. Poitras maintains the video is political satire protected by the First Amendment. He has sued Clark in federal court for infringement on his constitutional rights.
Details of the Bankman-Fried contribution were reported in the February 24, 2023 Vermont Daily Chronicle story, “Indictment: FTX $1 million contribution to gay congressional candidate “a lot of woke – – – – ”:
According to his Feb. 23, 2023 federal indictment, Bankman-Fried stole FTX customer deposits, and used billions of dollars in stolen funds to “support the operations and investments of FTX and Alameda; to fund speculative venture investments; to make charitable contributions; to enrich himself; and to try to purchase influence over cryptocurrency regulation in Washington, D.C. by steering tens of millions of dollars of illegal campaign contributions to both Democrats and Republicans.”
The indictment continues: “In or around 2022, Samuel Bankman-Fried, a/k/a ‘SBF,’ the defendant, and others agreed that he and his co-conspirators should contribute at least a million dollars to a super PAC that was supporting a candidate running for a United States Congressional seat and appeared to be affiliated with pro-LGBTQ issues,
July 7, FTX software engineering exec Nishad Singh donated $1.1 million to the LGBTQ Victory Fund. The next biggest donor gave $10,000. The PAC then spent $991,000 on the Balint campaign. Simple arithmetic shows that the LGBTQ Victory Fund was just a pass-through from Singh to Balint’s benefit. In the final month before the August 9 primary, a plethora of mailers and advertising helped a surging Balint pummel Lt. Gov. Molly Gray.
Poitras emphasized the satirical nature of the video in a recent Facebook post. “This is my latest fake movie trailer, packed with over-the-top satire, ridiculous jokes, and enough dramatic narration to qualify for a summer blockbuster,” he wrote. Watch until the end. And before someone writes a 37-paragraph Facebook comment… It’s AI. Relax. Nobody was actually cast in this movie… except sarcasm.”